Fragments of a God
by Shadowapple42
Summary: The Tailed Beasts are not demons or constructs of Chakra, they are the remaining fragments of a God. The largest fragment, Kurama, has no desire to live within a glorified drain pipe inside of a bratty shinobi's gut. Escape may be impossible, for now, but if the Kyuubi must live in a cage, it may as well be a gilded one. How will Naruto fare with a piece of a God advising him?
1. Prologue

**This is my first attempt at a fanfiction. I hope anyone who reads this enjoys it. The people in the world of Naruto consider the Tailed Beasts to be demons. But I have always considered the Shinju to be the closest thing the Naruto world has to a God, this would make the Tailed Beasts the pieces, or fragments, of a God. I wondered; how would this affect the story? We will just have to find out. The next chapter will be uploaded within two weeks. [Edited 19/06/2016]**

* * *

In the age before man, Gods roamed the world. Beings of such tremendous power, that it could not be imagined by the primitive humanity. These great entities shaped the world, reforming the continents and oceans as if they were clay. In time, however, these beings drifted away to unknown places, only a few remaining in the land. Most of these beings left mere whispers of themselves, and remained as shadows that affected the land in subtle ways. But there was one Godlike creature that did not leave, but chose to become a part of the world itself.

This Deity was the Shinju, a great tree, and it was the most powerful thing in this world. For eons it had rested upon the land, immobile and unaffected by everything surrounding it. Over time, humanity evolved and as they grew more advanced religions were formed. These religions were all different in some way or another, but all of them had one thing in common; the Shinju was a central figure in their worship. How could it not be? Even before humans gained the knowledge of chakra, they could feel the power rolling off of it. The Tree was impossibly high; it reached into the clouds and almost seemed to touch the moon. Its awe inspiring figure ensured that it was worshipped like the God it actually was.

The Shinju was worshipped, and as several sects of different religions all wished to claim the land surrounding it as their own, an era of war began. But it was not just for religion that these wars were fought. The lands surrounding the Shinju were enriched with its ambient power, and so they were the most fertile lands to be found; entire wars were started so one side could have the best farmland. These wars brought about ambitious men and women who desired to rule over all others, armies rallied behind them and wars were fought to stroke their ego. These wars created resentment between the various factions, and so more wars were started to soothe the seething hatred various sides had towards each other.

Endless cycles of war, almost all of which centred on the Shinju. But the Shinju did not care. Why should it? The struggling of the insects at its feet was beneath its notice. Its attentions were directed towards things that humanity could not understand.

This cycle of war continued for longer than any living memory or historic record could tell. And it may have been that is how it would always be. Except one day, a woman decided to commit the greatest of blasphemies, she decided to climb the Shinju.

Every religion spoke of the same legend, that every millennia the Shinju would sprout a fruit that if eaten would grant the one who consumed it untold power. These legends have spurred many, many people to attempt to climb the great tree, all of whom fail. The tree's tremendous height caused most people to tire and fall to their deaths. Oddly enough, most of the people who attempted to climb the tree were slain by an opposing faction who did not wish an enemy to gain this legendary power for themselves.

Warriors and heroes, conquerors and villains; everyone who has ever attempted to climb the tree has failed. So it was for that reason that no one expected that a young woman would succeed in this impossible feat. But succeed she did.

This young woman managed what no one had ever done before; she was able to climb to the top of the great tree. This young woman would be the first human to lay eyes on the Shinju's summit.

* * *

Her name was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, a young noble girl whose only desire was to end the wars that ravaged the world. She was a beautiful woman, with delicate features and long pale hair that would almost reach to her feet if it were not tied up to prevent her tripping while she was climbing. She wore a rough tunic and breeches, a stark contrast to her usual formal robes which were far more befitting of her noble status.

Not a moment since she had placed her feet onto the summit, a change had occurred within the Shinju. For the first time in its existence a mortal had set foot upon its most sacred area, this required a response.

Before the young noblewoman's eyes, a shadow seemed to coalesce in front of her. This shadow took the shape of a man. This 'man' had no facial features to speak of, and the human shape it had formed was rough and ragged, as if it were a sketch on a piece of paper. However, before the lady Kaguya could comprehend what had just formed in front of her, the shadow spoke.

"_You should not be here."_ The shadow's voice sounded as if it were a whisper from far away.

"Are, are you the Shinju?" said the lady Kaguya. She struggled to keep the fear from her voice, she had sacrificed too much to reach this place, and she would not falter now.

"_I am… a sliver, a fragment of fragments. It was this fragment that felt you climb us. It was this fragment that felt you disturb us. It was this fragment that itched in the same way you would if a fly were to crawl on your arm. Why are you here?" _The shadow's voice maintained its whisper. It felt nothing towards the mortal that had arrived at the Shinju's core, and could not understand the efforts she went to arrive there.

Kaguya paused, unsure of how to reply to this… creature that stood before her. It was not _the_ Shinju, but a part, a small part, of the being that she was raised from birth to worship. But deity or not, she had to press on for the sake of her quest. She cleared her throat to speak, her voice clear of any fear.

"O fragment of the great Shinju. I have travelled far and risked much in order to claim the legendary fruit that is said to grow within you. I wish to consume this fruit so that I may bring peace to the people of the world. I beseech you, please grant it to me."

The shadow cocked its head to one side after hearing the noblewoman's plea, as if considering giving her a response at all. After what felt like an age, the creature spoke.

"_You seek the fruit of the Chakra. This fruit could grant even a mortal power enough to gain notice amongst the Divine. With the power the fruit could grant, nothing a mortal could wish for would be beyond your grasp." _The shadow's whispers grew with intensity, as if even speaking of this fruit added weight to the ethereal creature's existence.

The young noblewoman's eyes alit with triumph. The legends were true after all, if they were not, her quest would have ended in vain.

"Yes! This is the fruit I seek. I beg of thee, o Shinju, grant me this gift."

The shadow seemed to recoil before it regained its composure. _"Gift? This is not a gift. There will be a price for what you seek. For what you ask, the price will be high."_

She took a moment to consider the creature's words. But after coming this far, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's only desire in the world was to bring about peace. No price would be too high for her.

"I care not what this price will be. I must have this fruit to save the world."

If the shadow could laugh it would have. _"Save the world? Mortal, your short-lived species is nothing to this world. You mortals could destroy each other again and again and the world will not be moved. The Shinju will not be moved. This fruit will not save the world, but it will change it. That is the price."_

The noblewoman's lovely face contorted into a frown. "I… do not understand."

The Shadow continued as if she hadn't spoken. _"Consuming this fruit will grant you the power you seek. But this power is a portion of the Shinju's power; in consuming this power, you will be connected to us. You will be forever changed. If you take this fruit, you will become a part of the Shinju and the Shinju will be a part of you. This power could save your species now, but may condemn it in the future as the Shinju's eye will finally take notice of your race."_

Kaguya paused, she had no desire to save her people now only for them to be destroyed later. However, she quickly grasped onto something that the Shadow had said. "You said 'may'; it is not guaranteed that the Shinju will cause my people's destruction."

The shadow spread its incorporeal arms in a conciliatory gesture. _"Nothing is absolute. Your mortal race was presumed to be beyond hope, and guaranteed to destruction. But here you are; a mortal hero who is one step away from changing that fate. Perhaps there are other remarkable insects that will do the same in the future? The chance is slim, but it is there."_

The young noble took a breath to ready herself. "This is the only way to save my kind now, and with the power of the fruit, more options will bloom in the future. I beseech thee, fragment of the Shinju; grant me this."

Without another word, the shadow dissipated. But before Kaguya could call after it, a small plant not unlike a bean-sprout sprouted next to her. Within moments, the plant had grown until it reached waist height of the young noble. On the tip of this strange plant was a single white bud that slowly bloomed, which revealed a blue fruit the size of a plum.

As soon as the fruit was revealed to her, the whispering of the Shadow could be heard echoing around the Shinju's sanctum. _"This is the fruit you seek. Take it, and the price will be paid."_

Reverently, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki plucked the Chakra fruit from the stem, taking no notice as the plant withered and died. She stared at the fruit for a moment, before taking it to her lips, and swallowing it whole…

* * *

And that was the beginning of a new legend, the legend of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. The mortal who climbed the back of a God and came down something more…

While she had climbed up the great being, with the power of Chakra coursing through her, she had no need to do climb down to reach the ground. To return to the earth she simply jumped from the great height of the deity, the fall would not harm her as she was now. The few retainers she had waiting for her return at the base of the tree were gladdened to see their mistress return, but there was fear in their hearts as well. For their lady was no longer truly human; and her appearance confirmed it.

While she still maintained her delicate beauty. Her eyes had changed, her pupils were gone and her eyes had become a pale lavender in colour, it was the first Byakugan. The most startling change in her appearance, however, was the emergence of two horns on either side of her head, and the third eye filled with red concentric rings that opened between them.

Unknowing, or uncaring for her retainers' fear she merely spared them a significant glance and a single sentence.

"Come, we have much work to do."

* * *

And work was indeed done. The wars ravaging the land had continued on and off for centuries, maybe even millennia. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki quelled them all within weeks. Such was her power.

It is unknown how she accomplished this task, but as long as she lived there was no conflict, all wars ceased, a peace never before known had dawned on humanity. And while many grumbled about her heavy-handedness, no one raised their voices against her. For some it was because of the gratitude they held for her, but for many others it was due to simple fear. The end result was the same, Kaguya was unchallenged by any mortal.

Throughout all of her deeds however, the Shinju's eye was upon her. For the first time in eons, the Shinju had turned its gaze away from the heavens and returned it towards the earth it was rooted to. One cannot explain why the Shinju took such an interest. Perhaps it was curious about what a mortal would do with a portion of its power; but no one will ever truly know what it thought of the situation, as no mortal would be able to understand the answer.

One thing that had been hypothesized, however, was that it probably expected the power it granted Kaguya to return to it after she had passed away. For while Kaguya's lifespan was far longer than a regular mortals; it wasn't even a blink of an eye compared to the Shinju's perception of time.

That is what is believed to have finally angered the Shinju. For while it had offered its power to Kaguya, it had no agreements or deals with her sons. Who inherited the power their mother had received.

And so it came to pass that when Kaguya Ōtsutsuki left the mortal plane, the Shinju (or at least a large part of it) reformed itself into the visage of a ten-tailed monster and personally sought to reclaim the power of Chakra that the sons of Kaguya inherited.

The apocalyptic battle between the two sons of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and the Shinju (hence known after this battle as the Jūbi) was long and fierce. Very little is known about this legendary event, as no civilization from that time survived the battle. But by the end, the world was changed. Maps had to be completely redrawn and charted, and human society had to be reformed from the pieces left behind. The man who oversaw this reformation was Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, eldest son of Kaguya and the man who had sealed the Shinju into himself.

The other son, Hamura Ōtsutsuki, vanished from all historic records, but his brother Hagoromo still had a part to play in the shaping of the world. Without Kaguya's influence, the shattered remains of civilization began warring with each other once more, all of them seeking to claim the remaining pieces of civilization for themselves. Hagoromo witnessed all of this, and like his mother before him, could not stand for such a thing to continue.

Hagoromo had no desire to be as heavy-handed as his mother, and instead of forcing his will onto the frightened populace, he took a far more pacifistic stance. He spent many years guiding and teaching all who would listen to him, and while he did not abolish war, he ensured that civilization could and would be rebuilt. However, his greatest accomplishment, and the one he is known for, would be the sharing of Chakra.

Hagoromo believed that his mother's shock and awe approach to be morally wrong, and so he sought to spread the power of Chakra to the people. It was his hope that as all living things would share the energies of Chakra, they draw closer together through a shared spiritual bond. Of course that would not be the case, after receiving the powers of Chakra, many people soon learnt of its use as a weapon and soon began using it to wage more violent forms of war, much to Hagoromo's displeasure. He could have acted to prevent this, he chose not to. It was not for him to decide how the power would be used.

Despite his failures with Chakra; after many, many years Hagoromo, now known as the Sage of the Six Paths would perform one last world changing act. Aware of his dwindling years, and having no desire to release the Jūbi to ravage the world in its fury; he used his power to split the Jūbi into nine parts.

Hagoromo's last great act would be to fragment a God.

* * *

It has been a long, long time since the shadow was formed to converse with Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. But after many years, the fragment that was once the shadow had been dragged out into its own form once again. But… something was different this time.

The shadow… was no longer a shadow; it now had a form of its own. It had a real head, which could look down to examine its real claws. It could feel the wind on its face, it could see, smell and taste the world like no feeble incorporeal existence ever could. It was no longer an it, but a _he_.

He looked around with his corporeal eyes, taking in sights that were only abstract concepts before. Beside him were eight other beings, all of them fragments such as himself, all of them had tails like himself, all of them looking at each other in wonder. He could feel their power; he knew they were all of the Shinju, as he was. And then he realised that he was the most powerful one of them all. To go from a sliver of consciousness to the largest fragment of the Shinju was… awe inspiring.

He looked down and beneath him he saw a man, this man looked so much like Kaguya did so long ago, when he influenced the bargain she struck…

"Children," spoke the wizened old man, "my name is Hagoromo, I am the one who has given you new life; life beyond that of the Shinju. You are no longer simple pieces of a puzzle. You are all unique and therefore, as new and unique beings, I shall give you all names so that you never forget this fact."

The Sage of the Six Paths looked straight into his eyes. "Your name… shall be Kurama."

And so began the legend of the Tailed Beasts; the fragments of the last great God.


	2. The Awakening

**I have to say I have been bowled over by the response I have received for the first chapter of this story. I was expecting like one review and maybe a follower or two. A big thank you for everyone who favourited and followed my first fanfiction. And an extra big thanks to those of you who reviewed, they were very inspiring for me. I'm afraid there isn't much in the way of action in this chapter; this one is more about setting up some situations and getting the ball rolling. [Edited 19/06/2016]**

* * *

From the fog of sleep, Kurama awoke from his slumber. His awakening was not a quick one, for some reason his body felt lethargic, completely devoid of energy. But how could this be? He has the greater power of a God in his grasp, he shouldn't ever get _tired_.

Then, as he opened his eyes, bars filled his vision, and the realisation struck him.

A rage Kurama had never felt in decades crept over him. He had been trapped. He was trapped, _again_. He, Kurama, the nine-tailed fox, greatest fragment of the Shinju, witness of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's bargain, had been caged like an animal.

With a howl of fury, the Kyūbi collected as much power as he could manage in his weakened state and threw himself at the cage in front of him. For what felt like eons, Kurama strained against the gate, wielding all of the arcane and divine knowledge at his command to bear against his new prison. In over twelve different planes of existence, Kurama fought against the gate, pouring all of his energies into the singular goal of escape. But it was not enough.

No matter what he did, the gate would not move. Weakened as he was, Kurama was still exerting enough power to shatter mountains, but it had _no effect_. There were no buckles, no tears, not even a hint of strain could be seen on the bars of his new prison. Plunged into a white-hot fury, the Kyūbi brought even more power to bare against the gate, his rage allowing him to push beyond his current limits. But it was not enough.

Eventually, as if by some unspoken signal, the prison released a single pulse of energy, and in that moment, Kurama was instantly repulsed and sent flying away, landing ungracefully in a puddle of… sewer water?

The shock of landing in such a filthy place startled Kurama enough that his rage dissipated. As his anger slowly died away, Kurama rose from his prone position on the filthy floor and took stock of his situation.

After a moment of thought, Kurama berated himself for his rash action. Yes, he had been caged like a beast, but that did not mean he had to act like one. Besides, it was now quite obvious that brute force would not work in this situation, at least not with his current level of power. With a flick of his tails, the sewer water beneath him was banished, allowing Kurama to sit comfortably. There were many variables to consider, so he might as well be comfortable.

The first thing that must be addressed: How did he get here? And what was the last thing he could remember?

Kurama closed his eyes, willing hazy memories forth, dredging up the reluctant past…

He remembered… his previous prison weakening… and then a mortal bearing the Sharingan came and broke him free… But what happened after that? Jumbles, distorted images, he must have been under the mortal's control; how humiliating. Even now, the eyes of the Shinju can sway him, even in its diminished form. Steps must be taken to prevent that next time. What happened next…?

Ah yes, the connection between the masked mortal and himself was broken. Just in time to be beset upon by even more mortals and higher beasts. Even disorientated, they should not have been too much of a challenge; were it not for his previous container, Kushina Uzumaki. Her chakra-forged chains were potent enough to restrain him. But even those bonds would not have held him long.

No, it wasn't the might of mortals that felled him. One of their number, the one known as the Fourth Hokage knew exactly how to challenge a Fragment of a God. He summoned a God of his own; the Shinigami, the personification of Death.

The Shinigami is the perfect weapon against one such as himself. To the smallest microbe, to the mightiest God, all beings die; and the Shinigami presides over them all. One cannot fight against death, not even a God.

And so, with the aid of the Shinigami, he was sealed away, again. But while the involvement of the Shinigami was his downfall, it may yet lead to his salvation.

This new prison is very different from his last two. While a lot… dirtier, it is much, much less restrictive. Whatever influence the Shinigami exerted on his sealing, it had changed things. The lack of restraints on his person would allow him to do much more than simply move around; it would allow him to exert his influence.

Tentatively, Kurama willed small amounts of his power forth. The ground beneath the Tailed Beast seemed to froth as bubbles comprised of pure chakra emerged from him, all creeping towards the gate. As expected, the prison easily repelled the Kyūbi's energy… but not all of it. Very small wisps of Kurama's power managed to squeeze past the bars, the gate not taking any action to prevent them. It seemed that there is a limit to what the gate can recognise as a threat.

Kurama's fanged grin threatened to split his face in two. Some gates can withstand the strongest force, but a subtle touch can sometimes be all that is needed. With great concentration, Kurama began forming a tendril of chakra, this time making it as weak as he could manage. Kurama sent this tendril past the gate, willing it to keep going forward until it finally came into contact with his host's chakra network.

"Now, let's see what I have to work with."Thought Kurama, his eyes alit with triumph.

The charka pathway network of a human body is very extensive, especially in the area of the brain. Taking advantage of these extensive pathways, Kurama directed his energy to travel the network towards his host's mind. It was the work of a moment, and in that moment, Kurama had access to his host's mental faculties.

Kurama very briefly considered attempting to cause a stroke or seizure in his host's brain, but quickly discarded the idea. He had no guarantee that he could pull off such a trick, and even if he could, it probably wouldn't be enough to kill the boy. And even if it did kill him, this seal has already proven to be different to his previous ones; it may not release him after the host's death. No, Kurama had something different in mind.

The Kyūbi does not know how long he had been asleep; he knew he was sealed inside of a baby boy, but nothing else. How many years have passed? What is the boy like? These are things he must know. Gently, and with an incredible amount of precision, Kurama teased his way into the boy's memories…

The triumphant grin that had been gracing the Kyūbi's face faded away.

Before this moment, Kurama thought there was nothing more humiliating than being controlled by the Sharingan. Before this moment, Kurama believed that no more indignities could ever be piled upon him. He was wrong.

"What is this?! This… this is… It cannot be. It cannot be!"The white-hot rage that Kurama had mastered earlier was now slowly resurfacing.

Kurama considered himself, accurately, to be one of the most powerful beings in the world, if not _the_ most powerful. He is a being that could create natural disasters with a thought, a being that all creatures both mortal and spiritual feared and respected. As such a mighty being, Kurama was used to being given respect.

His first host, Mito Uzumaki, was a powerful, important woman. She was a powerful kunoichi, wife to the First Hokage and matriarch of the Senju family. His second host, Kushina Uzumaki, was also an incredibly powerful kunoichi and was the wife to the Fourth Hokage. He hated them for his imprisonment; but he was still grudgingly pleased that even though he was caged, his hosts were respected and powerful.

But, his new host, this Naruto Uzumaki. This… this... _street rat_. This little seven year old brat. This stupid, powerless urchin. This is who was selected to be his new container?

This was not acceptable.

Before the rage could overtake him once again, Kurama forced it back down. It had already been proven that anger and raw power will not win this battle. Before he lost his connection the boy's mind, he delved back into his memories. There must be something that he can use. Something he can salvage from this debacle.

The more memories Kurama trawled through, the more downhearted he became. Naruto Uzumaki, a seven year old orphan who had been studying at the Konoha ninja academy for about a year. He was a poor student, very unwilling to focus on his studies, preferring to cause mischief then doing any actual work. The boy was stupid, naïve and clueless. And let's not even get started on his unhealthy obsession for Ramen. In short, his host was a complete disaster, and an embarrassment.

The more Kurama saw, the more he reconsidered his decision to kill the stupid brat via a stroke. He was contemplating how much power he would require for such an act before he found a deep rooted memory in the boy's psyche.

"_Hokage."_

Broken from his musings, Kurama paused. He could almost feel the boy's determination. A simple word brought forth a source of willpower that he honestly did not expect from a mortal. He delved deeper.

"_I wanna be Hokage."_

Kurama had not felt such a strong desire from a mortal in centuries. Could it be that there was something salvageable here?

"_I'm going to be the greatest Hokage ever!"_

Incredibly ambitious… this could be something Kurama could work with. But why was this desire so strong? He had to know more. Kurama peered further into Naruto's mind, looking for anything that would explain this unnaturally strong desire...

Respect. That was what it all boiled down to. His status as Kurama's container (not that he was aware of this) made him an outcast, which was something Naruto simply could not stand. The boy wants to be acknowledged by everyone around him. He craves it, he needs it. The boy truly believes that if he becomes powerful enough to be the Village of Konoha's leader and protector, they will all acknowledge him; that they will look at him with the same reverence they look at his mentor, the Third Hokage.

It was a bit pathetic in Kurama's opinion, but what he thought about the boy's reasoning didn't really matter. Besides, as the boy got older, his reasoning and outlook would almost certainly mature with him. Regardless, with this ambition known to him, Kurama was now free to make plans. Naruto Uzumaki was a pathetic street rat, and unfitting to be associated with him. But with a little effort on his part, that could soon change…

Kurama's eyes gleamed with reignited triumph. What he had in mind would take years, but he would once again show the world just how powerful the greatest fragment of the Shinju really was.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was dreaming. This was nothing new to the boy, everyone dreams after all. But this time, something was different…

Instead of dreaming about an endless supply of ramen or having old man Third giving him the Hokage's hat; Naruto dreamed of the Hokage Mountain. But again, the mountain is different. It was far larger than it is in reality. It stretched to an impossible height so high that the faces of the four Hokage touched the clouds. He felt like a speck next to it, for the first time in his young life, Naruto felt truly small.

Naruto was not afraid of heights, but looking upon this version of the Hokage Mountain filled him with trepidation. He simply could not grasp the enormity of the mountain in front of him. Unconsciously, the young ninja in training took a step back.

"What are you doing?" Asked a deep voice from behind Naruto.

Naruto spun around to face the originator of the voice. In front of him stood a tall man, clad in full ornamental red plate armour, similar to something Naruto has seen on a picture of the First Hokage. The man's face could not be seen, his face is covered by a red-steel helm. Only his eyes were visible, his deep-red eyes that seemed to glow due to the shadow cast by the mountain.

"W-who are you?!" said Naruto in surprise, he had never seen anything like this guy before.

The armoured man crossed his arms and gave Naruto an imperious stare. "I am here to help you, boy. Now, what are you doing?"

"I- uh, whady'a mean?" said Naruto while scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"You are backing away from the mountain. Why? Is it not your dream to be Hokage?"

Naruto was taken aback by this statement, but his reply was indignant. "Of course I wanna be Hokage! I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage ever! What's it to you, geezer!"

The armoured-man pointed past Naruto's shoulder, back towards the mountain. "Look at the mountain again, boy. Look closely. What do you see?"

Fuming at how confusing the armoured guy was being, Naruto turned back around to face the Hokage Mountain once again. Now that Naruto was no longer surprised and distracted by the mountain's size he could look at it more closely. At first he saw nothing, but then he noticed shapes further up the rock-face.

"Hey… are those people?"

The armoured man snorted. "You finally noticed. They are indeed people, ninja, in fact."

Naruto spun around to face the man in surprise. "Ninja? Really?! But… why're they climbing?"

The armoured man gestured towards the mountain again. "This mountain is an obstacle. The greatest obstacle; it is the path to becoming Hokage."

Naruto perked up at that. "Path to being Hokage!? How does that work?"

"In this dream, the mountain is merely a metaphor," The armoured man waved his hand dismissively; ignoring the young Uzumaki's confused expression. "The mountain is a representation of the road to becoming Hokage. The path you seek will be a hard climb, and a perilous journey. You must climb this mountain. You must show your determination."

"Hey! Why should I jump through hoops for you geezer?!" said Naruto, anger creeping into his voice.

The armoured man continued to stare, unaffected by Naruto's outburst. "Isn't being Hokage your dream? Don't you want to be Hokage? Don't you want to see all of the people in the village respect you? Acknowledge you? Praise you? You say you want to be Hokage, but you don't even want to try and climb a mountain for the sake of your dream."

As Naruto's bluster faded due to the mysterious man's words, he gave him one last push.

"The people you see climbing this mountain are also people vying to become Hokage. They are your rivals. People you must surpass and overcome. People you must defeat. And they already have a head start. Besides I think you know some of those people," The armoured man pointed to one of the lowest climbers. "Like that one."

Naruto looked to where the armoured guy was pointing, and recognised the figure instantly. Sasuke Uchiha, Mr Perfect, the guy who always got everything right. His rival. There was no way that he would allow Sasuke to beat him in anything, especially the race to be Hokage.

In that one instant; Naruto forgot that this was a dream, ignored the fact that it wasn't real. In that moment, Naruto bellowed a roar of challenge and ran up to the mountain. With a second cry, he leapt as high as he could, grasped onto the rock-face and began climbing at a furious pace. Below him he could hear a cry from the armoured man.

"Yes boy! That's the spirit! Climb, show your determination, and reach the top."

* * *

As he watched the young Uzumaki climb; Kurama grinned beneath the helmet his mortal guise wore. It is a crude beginning. But the first lesson was already being taught. The very first step had been taken.

But already, he could feel the dream around him beginning to fade away. The boy was waking up, and it would be unwise to keep the boy asleep, lest it be noticed by others.

"_Now, with the boy's training underway, how should I address the other big problem? The Uchiha clan; with the Senju gone, and the boy not yet exhibiting any traits of the Uzumaki chains, are the only ones who could restrain me. I must think of a way to rid myself of them."_

But even as Kurama schemed, plans were being made without his knowledge which would take care of that particular problem for him…

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open. Within seconds he was sitting up bolt right in his bed, panting from exertion.

"What sort of dream was that?" said Naruto, but there was no one around to answer him.

Unconsciously, Naruto got up from his bed and dressed himself quickly. The Ninja Academy was having a summer break, and so there was no need to rush off to class. Instead Naruto left his apartment and headed to the roof of his apartment complex.

After reaching the roof, Naruto sat down and stared at the Hokage Monument.

"_Climb, show your determination, and reach the top."_

Maybe that geezer was on to something after all. "Determination…"

* * *

While the Kyūbi was scheming, and Naruto was pondering; the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was having deep thoughts of his own.

Sequestering themselves in a secret chamber beneath the Hokage tower; he and his former teammates, along with his old friend and rival Danzō Shimura, had been discussing a sensitive topic all night long: How to prevent the Uchiha clan rebellion. All night, these four venerable elders lent all of their considerable knowledge and experience to this task.

Ideas had been suggested, debated, and ultimately rejected. Concessions had been rebuffed, all attempts at subtle diplomacy had failed. The fact remained clear; the Uchiha clan were determined to take full control of the village. There was only one option left: Force.

"So, we are all agreed then." Said Hiruzen; his leaden tones betraying his thoughts on the agreed upon course of action.

"Indeed we are, my lord Hokage." Said Homura Mitokado; his former teammate.

"I understand that it is regretful, but there is no other option." Said Koharu Utatane; his other teammate.

"There is no need to feel regret over what will be done to traitors." Said Danzō dismissively; offering his own opinion on the matter. "That Konoha is kept safe is all that matters."

Nodding once to each of his advisors; Hiruzen rose from his seat. "Very well. The decision is final. Let this meeting and our conclusions on the matter be recorded in the Black Archive."

Glancing towards Homura, and with a heavy heart, the Third Hokage spoke the final words of the meeting. "Summon Itachi."

* * *

**And there we are. While this chapter didn't have anything in the way of action, I hope you still enjoyed it. The next chapter will be out sometime before mid-July, and will feature the destruction of the Uchiha clan… but not all will be as it seems.**


	3. Duty

**This is it, my third chapter, featuring the massacre of the Uchiha clan. This is my first action scene, and I hope you like it. I thank everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed so far. You guys are awesome! Some Author's Notes at the bottom of the chapter. [Edited 19/06/2016]**

* * *

Ever since he was young, Itachi Uchiha had always seen the world going in slow-motion. To him, the world was a lifeless tableau, almost as if it were a black and white portrait devoid of all colour. That wasn't the case with everything of course. Sometimes he would see or feel something that would touch his heart, and in that one instant, colour would return to the world.

The smell of ground cocoa beans…

The feeling of rain on his face…

The look of pride on his father's face…

His mother's smile…

But over time, as his eyes grew stronger, and he reached yet another plateau of power, even these things lost their lustre. The smell of cocoa and the feeling of rain had become just as dull as everything else to him. He could no longer gain satisfaction from his father's pride. And even when his mother smiled… he feels nothing. It felt like the butt of a cruel joke. He had trained hard, attaining more and more power in order to gain his father's approval. But now that he had that power, his father's pride meant nothing to him. Nothing.

But as the world lost more and more of its colour, he retreated further and further into his duties to the village. No matter how bleak the world around him became, he felt… at peace when doing his duty.

His duty; yes, that had been the crux of all of his recent problems. Once upon a time doing his duty for the Village was the same thing as doing duty for the Clan. But now… now the Clan wanted more than that. They wanted more from the Village, more from _him_. But he has nothing left to give them.

He knew it won't be long now. Soon, he would be given the order. He knew it was inevitable; he had spent hours contemplating it. It could not be anyone else. Only he could do this.

Only he could destroy the Uchiha Clan.

He knows the order will come. But until it did, he would seclude himself here, his own little glade in the forest. A poet would describe where he sat as beautiful; they would rhapsodise over how the morning dew dappled the trees surrounding him, how the sunlight refracted off of those dew drops and bathed the area in needles of light. Itachi saw none of it. The beauty of a place means nothing to him; all he cared about was that this location was quiet, and known only to him…

"Brother!"

…save one other.

Rising from the boulder he was resting on, Itachi turned to face his little brother, Sasuke. He took one look at his brother, and in that one instant, life and colour returned to the world.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

Running up to him, Sasuke took a moment to catch his breath before responding.

"You didn't come home last night, and I was worried about you."

If it were not so deeply ingrained against his training, Itachi would have smiled. As it was the corners of his lips twitched, the highest form of happiness he could express. It did not matter how bleak the world became, his little brother could cheer him up with his very presence alone.

"There is nothing to be concerned over, brother. I spent the night here, thinking."

Sasuke looked at his big brother, with the innocent eyes only a child could have. "What were you thinking about?"

Itachi paused for a moment, allowing himself time to word his dark ponderings into a safe sentence. "The future."

Sasuke frowned. "Is this about Shisui? You've been acting strange ever since he… went away."

Itachi did not allow his expression to change, but a shadow fell over his eyes. "Shisui… Shisui was my friend; and I will forever mourn his passing. But he isn't the reason I was out here. I just needed a quiet place to think, that's all."

From the look on his face, Itachi could tell Sasuke wasn't convinced. But he let it drop anyway. "Well… okay." Immediately afterwards, Sasuke's face brightened up. "Hey, brother, could you teach me something? Maybe like that cool shuriken technique you showed me the other day!"

Itachi was about to reply, when a crow perched upon his shoulder. Raising a hand to pre-empt and quieten his brother's curiosity, he removed a tiny piece of parchment from the bird's leg. It was a simple message; written in a code less than a handful of people knew.

_You have been summoned._

He knew what it meant; he had been expecting this message for some time. After a glance to memorize the message, Itachi released a small burst of chakra from his fingers; the message was then instantly incinerated by a brief gout of flame. After destroying the message, he looked down and saw Sasuke's inquisitive expression. Before his little brother could voice the question on his lips, Itachi cut him off.

"Sasuke, you should know better than to ask about a shinobi's correspondence. It is classified information."

Sasuke looked crestfallen for a moment before his regular cheerful outlook returned. "It's okay, I understand. Was it important?"

Itachi hesitated for a fraction of a second before replying. "…Very. Now, about that shuriken technique…"

Itachi took a long, hard look at his brother. He allowed himself a moment to memorize every facet of Sasuke's appearance, before bending down on his knees to look his brother straight in the eye. He held his gaze for a few seconds more.

Then, he poked him in the forehead.

"Sorry brother, maybe next time."

The sight of Sasuke's good natured grumbling at Itachi's usual style of rejection always made his lips twitch upwards slightly. For some reason he would never be able to explain, Itachi felt the urge to grab his brother by the shoulder, looking into his eyes once more.

"Sasuke… one day I will teach you everything I know about ninjutsu. That is a promise."

Sasuke's eyes grew bright. "Really? You mean it brother?"

"Of course I do. Now, I have to get going, you should go get some lunch"

As Sasuke ran off, Itachi straightened himself to his full height, watching his brother leave. Unexpectedly, Sasuke stopped for a moment and looked behind his shoulder. "Mom was worried about you too, you know. I think even father was worried. You should come back to the house more often!"

After hearing his brother's final words, Itachi stood deathly still for a moment. Without Sasuke near him the world around began to lose its colour once again. The dark thoughts crept back into his mind. He dearly wished his brother had not spoken of their parents. He did not want them in his thoughts right now, not with what he was soon to do. Instead, he boxed thoughts of his parents away, replacing them with thoughts of duty, and of Sasuke.

In his life, only two things truly mattered to him; duty, and his brother. He vowed to himself that he would uphold both, no matter the cost.

After releasing a breath he did not know he was holding; Itachi vanished from the glade via the Shunshin technique.

He would never return there again.

* * *

The sun had set on the village of Konoha. The last fleeting rays of the sun cast a gloom over the village, defining the clouds and casting a sickly pallor over all it touched below them. Itachi thought it was the perfect view. For this one event, the world looked the way he had always seen it in his mind's eye.

As he stalked his way towards the home of his family and friends, he allowed his mind to wander back to the fateful meeting with the Hokage and his advising elders…

* * *

_Over the years, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had aged into the appearance of the perfect grandfather, kindly and wise. But there was steel in his gaze, and a knotted strength in his shoulders that bespoke of his decades of service as a shinobi of Konoha. He wore his robes of office with a strength of dignity that one would be hard pressed to find in men half his age. _

_Itachi's supreme military commander stared down at his kneeling form with a look that was both compassionate and hard._

"_You know why you have been summoned?"_

"_Yes, Lord Hokage."_

_The Hokage sighed in sympathy. "This has been building up for a long time Itachi; long before you or even your father was born. But, it has finally boiled over. The Uchiha clan plans to wage war on the village in a matter of days. This cannot be allowed. The hard earned peace our brave ninja have forged would be lost." _

_At this point in the Hokage's speech, one of the elders, Danzō, stepped forward. While the Hokage looked gentler with age, Danzō was his opposite. He wore his years with bitterness; the wrinkles on his face may as well have been scars. Much of his face was wrapped up in bandages, covering his damaged eye. His arm was also heavily bandaged and worn in a full-body sling. It was of Itachi's opinion that the wrappings were intentionally larger than they had to be in order to portray an image of frailty. But no one able to see the steel in Danzō's one visible eye could possibly believe that this man was frail._

"_Itachi, your clan are traitors. They seek to harm Konoha with their selfish actions. Diplomacy has failed, it had failed years ago. They have been given every attempt to recant, and have refused. The Uchiha clan must be destroyed." _

_The Hokage cut in. "This is, of course, regrettable; especially with what we wish you to do." The Hokage sighed. "It can't be anyone else Itachi. If we send any other agent, or an army, they could fail, they could be identified as working under our orders. I could intercede myself, but that would be even worse. It would shout loud and clear to the world that there was a schism in the very heart of our Village."_

_Danzō stepped forward once more, his singular eye staring deep into Itachi's own. "It must look like an internal matter. It must be one of their own who does this. And the only Uchiha who is truly loyal to Konoha is you." _

_The Hokage's own gaze settled upon Itachi. "Can you do this Itachi? Can you follow your duty? Even in this?"_

_To Itachi, the reply was obvious. "Yes, Lord Hokage."_

_Hiruzen rested a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "You are a true shinobi, Itachi. This old man will forever remember your courage. Even in the darkest of moments, remember that I am proud of you."_

_Danzō put his good arm on Itachi's other shoulder. While the Hokage's hand was gentle, Danzō's held him with a firm grip. "You will be branded a rogue and a traitor. But we will know the truth. You are a loyal shinobi. This will not be forgotten by anyone in this room."_

_Behind them, the other two elders, Homura and Koharu, nodded their agreement to coincide with Danzō's words, but remained silent. Itachi wondered if they were merely withholding their opinions or if they simply didn't want to become anymore involved in this business then they already were._

_The Hokage, as always, had the final word. "Itachi, for official record for the Black Archive, do you accept this mission?"_

_Everyone in the room knew the answer. "Yes, Lord Hokage…"_

* * *

Itachi approached the gate guards first. There were two of them, each standing vigil on either side of the gate. He knew them, but not very well, he had no special memories with these two men. They were the perfect place to begin.

One of them turned to face him, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Itachi, you haven't been seen around the compound for some time now. Where have you been?"

Itachi activated his Sharingan, he had only one thing left to say. "Defend yourself."

Faster than the guards could conceive, Itachi threw a kunai hidden in the palm of his hand. With pinpoint accuracy, the weapon punched through one of the guard's eye and into his brain. The shock of having several key areas of the mind being destroyed by eight-inches of steel ensured that the guard died without even having time to scream.

Even as the slain guard was collapsing to the ground, Itachi sped into action. The Sharingan allowed him to see every single little twitch on the remaining guard's frightened face. Itachi could see the minute vibrations of his target's throat as he began to shout and alert the compound. That could not be allowed.

Before a single sound could be made, Itachi's hand was around the surviving guard's throat in a vice-like grip. With a simple pulse of chakra to enhance his natural strength, the guard's windpipe was crushed, and his neck broke with a muffled snap.

Both guards died quickly, which satisfied Itachi. Orders aside; they were family.

Without further ceremony, Itachi slipped his way through the compound entrance, pulling the bodies of the guards with him via use of chakra strings. It would not do for someone to discover two corpses outside of the compound and raise an alarm.

Before beginning his assault, Itachi had surveyed the compound from afar. Due to this precaution, he had seen that all of the other clan members had gone indoors. So when he stepped inside, it was with confidence that no one would be outside to witness him enter.

Of course, nothing can ever be guaranteed. And so when Itachi saw a young Uchiha woman not ten paces away from where he stood, he almost had the urge to raise an eyebrow in surprise. They stared at each other for a moment.

She took a glance at the bodies behind him, and then into his eyes before attempting to scream. However, it was not possible for her to make a sound. That single glance into Itachi's Sharingan was all it took. Her eyes glazed over, her face went slack, and her arms dropped to her sides. She was trapped in a genjutsu.

Itachi recognised her; she was a civilian member of the clan. Untrained as a ninja and was an apprentice dressmaker. He remembered that she would always blush and stammer whenever she spoke to him.

He casually strode past her, pressing a kunai into her hand as he did so. Dumbly, she used the kunai to slit her own throat; the genjutsu shrouding her mind convincing her that it was the right thing to do. Blood poured down her neck and onto her dress in rivulets. She then collapsed to her knees and died. The genjutsu ensured she felt no pain. She was family after all.

Unsheathing a tantō from behind his back, Itachi stepped into closest building to the compound entrance. Inside he found a group of Uchiha ninja playing cards. Unlike the deceased young lady outside; these people were trained. As soon as they saw him in his ANBU armour and with an unsheathed weapon, they sprang into action. It was not enough. To Itachi's eyes, they may as well have been statues. With a placid expression, Itachi sped past them, slicing open key arteries in their necks and thighs before striding back outside. It was the sheer shock, rather than blood loss that killed them. Itachi ensured they felt little pain in their passing, they were family after all.

Itachi repeated this pattern in every building he came across. He would step into a building, and kill every living thing inside. Most fought him tooth and nail; but found that they were unable to match his skill. Others tried to flee; but found that they were unable to match his speed. A few got on their knees and begged for mercy; but found that he had no mercy to offer them.

Throughout it all, thoughts repeated through Itachi's mind like a mantra.

"_The orders are absolute."_

"_I serve and protect the greater peace."_

"_I must follow my duty."_

After clearing building after building, he had finally approached the home of his parents. A place he had lived his entire life. After a millisecond of hesitation he stepped inside, Sharingan ablaze; searching for the ones he called mother and father.

They were not there.

Itachi quickly and efficiently searched the house, but his parents were not to be found. Where could they be?

Realisation struck him; the Uchiha shrine, at the very back of the compound. The survivors, including his parents, must have gathered there. Readying himself, Itachi stalked out of the home he grew up in and headed towards what would become his parent's final resting place.

It was not long before he faced resistance.

Three Uchiha shinobi stood vigil over the shrine's entrance. He recognized them all instantly; Tekka, Yashiro and Inabi; the three Uchiha who had always been the most suspicious of him. Itachi wondered briefly if they felt any sort of vindication that their suspicions had been correct all along. Of course, it didn't really matter what their thoughts and feelings were on the matter, they would die all the same.

"Itachi, I hope you're pleased with yourself over what you have done," Said Yashiro, a stern man in his forties. "Your killing spree ends here."

"Lord Fugaku should have allowed us to lock you up when we had the chance." Said Inabi; an aggressive man with shoulder-length hair.

Tekka said nothing, but the anger that could be seen in his eyes said more than words ever could.

Itachi remained silent. What was there to say? He raised his hand, and made a come-hither motion. Immediately, the three Uchiha responded. Inabi and Tekka charged him; Inabi was in front, forming the hand-seals for a jutsu, Tekka wielding a kunai. Yashiro stayed behind, opting to observe how Itachi responded to the threat.

Itachi's Sharingan allowed him to see his opponents come to him in slow motion. He could immediately decipher Inabi's jutsu from the hand-seals he was slowly forming and determined that he was the greater threat. Without further preamble Itachi sped further than even Inabi's Sharingan-enhanced eyes could catch and sliced off four of his fingers on one hand. Before the shock of the career ending injury could set in; Itachi slapped a minimum-yield explosive tag on his face. The tag exploded a second after Itachi withdrew his hand, reducing Inabi's head into a red-mist.

Inabi's death happened so quickly that Itachi had the luxury of viewing Tekka charge at him in slow-motion. Indeed, Itachi took so long in deciding what to do with him that he was almost within striking distance.

Catching Tekka's weapon wielding arm, Itachi redirected his opponent's wrist to face him, and plunged Tekka's own kunai into his throat. As he began collapsing to the ground, Tekka's other arm reached out in a savage swipe to Itachi's face; but Itachi merely swayed out of the way before stepping past his fallen form.

His two opponents slain, Itachi turned his gaze to where Yashiro stood… but he was no longer there. Itachi was startled for a moment before his eyes began darting around the area, searching for where he had hidden himself. A sudden instinct encouraged him to look up, and saw Yashiro in the air directly above him.

Yashiro, his Sharingan spinning furiously, glaring down at his enemy, called out the name of his technique. "Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."

Itachi took a moment to admire Yashiro's command of the jutsu. Normally, this technique allowed the user to spit out four to six fireballs at the enemy. Yashiro released so many fireballs that it looked like the sky was raining fire.

Knowing it would be impossible to dodge that many fireballs, and still remain on the battlefield, Itachi readied his tantō in defence. Weaving his weapon in a circular motion, Itachi pushed his chakra through it and began using his own power to parry the dangerous balls of flame. No matter how many fireballs Yashiro sent his way, none of them were able to break past Itachi's defensive technique.

Inevitably, Yashiro was unable to keep using the technique so frequently. After Yashiro landed back on the ground during a lull in his offensive, Itachi sped forward and unleashed a flurry of strikes towards his foe. To his credit, Yashiro fended off the first few attacks with a kunai, but even his experience was no match for Itachi's skill and with a definitive strike, his head was struck from his shoulders.

With the last of the trio slain, Itachi continued his pace towards the shrine, satisfied that they felt little pain before they died. They were family, after all.

Itachi was just about to slide open the shrine entrance, when somebody did for him from the inside. Itachi barely registered the event before a sandaled-foot struck him hard in the chest, sending him skidding from the entrance. Guarding the doorway was a man Itachi knew very well; the head of the Uchiha clan, his principle teacher, his father, Fugaku Uchiha.

"So, it has come to this." Said Fugaku; dressed in his full Jōnin attire, a stoic expression on his face.

Itachi readied his tantō. "Yes, father."

Fugaku sighed in disappointment. "Know this Itachi; I understand why you have done what you have done. I am not fighting you not out of a need for vengeance or hatred…" His Sharingan activated. "I am punishing you for disobeying your father!"

Without hand-seals or calling out a name, a truly massive ball of flame burst out of Fugaku's open mouth, the enormous fireball threatening to incinerate everything in its path.

Itachi knew his father well, and recognized the open display of force for what it was. Unlike with Yashiro, this was not something that could be easily defended against, the only option was evasion. This was exactly what Fugaku was counting on.

But Itachi was no fool. Instead of leaping into the air as his father would expect, Itachi used the Shunshin technique to teleport behind Fugaku, and deliver a killing blow with his tantō…

CLANG!

A sharp metallic clash could be heard echoing throughout the compound.

Instead of severing his father's head, Itachi's tantō was halted by his father's own weapon. Fugaku was not even looking at him, his own tantō was held behind his head, contemptuously warding Itachi's strike.

"Did you really think I could be deceived by such a basic trick?" said Fugaku, incredulity colouring his voice.

Sensing danger, Itachi tried to disengage from the threat by leaping away, but his father kept pace with him, locking their tantō together. No matter what Itachi did, Fugaku kept their tantō locked. Itachi knew he could not let go of his weapon, as his father would use that opportunity to strike at him.

After a few more moments of futile deadlock, a burst of chakra powered flame erupted from Fugaku's mouth, the deadly inferno threatening to reduce Itachi to cinders.

It was a mistake Itachi capitalised on, as while Fugaku was moulding the chakra for his seal-less jutsu, he took the opportunity to use a Kawarimi to replace himself with a piece of debris.

Rather than be disorientated by Itachi's withdrawal, Fugaku's Sharingan allowed him to track where Itachi had relocated himself and immediately pressed the attack.

But Itachi was prepared for his father's offensive, and this time prevented Fugaku from locking blades. Instead he exchanged flurries of blows while looking for a weakness he could exploit. After several more moments, Itachi found an opening and pressed his own offensive.

It was a trap, as soon as Itachi went in for a killing blow, Fugaku let go of his own blade and swayed to the side. For the briefest of moments, Itachi was overextended, it was enough.

Fugaku's fist drove itself into Itachi's face. If he had not rolled with the blow, his cheek bone would have been caved in. After gaining a foothold through his defences, Fugaku plunged on; throwing strike after strike at Itachi's weakened defence.

Fugaku's eyes blazed with anger. "Never forget I was the one who taught you! You may be faster than me," another punch, narrowly missed, "stronger than me," another strike, barely deflected, "and possess greater skill," a kick which barely connected. "But there is one lesson I could never teach you. Aggression!"

With a roar, Fugaku drove his fist into Itachi's midsection, doubling him over; he then brought both of his fists down on the back of his head, before grabbing a hold of Itachi's hair and driving a knee into his face. Beaten, Itachi collapsed to the ground.

Fugaku stood over the defeated form of his son, breathing heavily. It was over, finished…

…A tantō burst out of his chest.

Blood spewing out of mouth, his face a rictus of pain, Fugaku turned his head to view his son, completely uninjured. He stood directly behind him, holding the tantō he had just buried in his father's back.

"As expected of the head of the Uchiha clan. If it were not for the power of my new eyes, I would not have been able to catch you in a genjutsu before you delivered the finishing blow."

Fugaku's bloodshot eyes stared into Itachi's own, and discovered that they were not normal Sharingan. The pattern in them had altered, becoming more intricate…

"Mangekyō… Sharingan…" The look of surprise on Fugaku's face turned into one of comprehension. "So you did… kill Shisui… as…expected of my son." Fugaku grinned, blood frothing up through his teeth and giving him a hideous appearance. "With the Mangekyō…. This is only the beginning…."

And with those parting words, Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Uchiha clan, died.

Itachi took a moment to stare at his father; pondering his last words. The beginning of what, he wondered? What did his father mean? But for now at least, it didn't matter. He put thoughts of his now dead father out of his mind, and without further impediment headed towards his final goal: The Uchiha Shrine, and his mother; Mikoto Uchiha.

* * *

When Itachi stepped into the shrine, he found it dark and cold. The only person, a woman in ceremonial white robes kneeling behind a traditional table lit with candles. In her hands was a cup of tea, opposite her, was another cup, freshly brewed.

Itachi's mother looked up at him and smiled. "Ah, Itachi, sit down and have a chat with your mother."

Wearily, Itachi knelt opposite his mother, keeping his tantō in easy reach. "I confess; this was not what I was expecting."

Mikoto looked amused, "Oh? Were you expecting in me in full combat gear, ready to fight to the death?" She chuckled. "I am not so arrogant as to believe that I could accomplish what your father and the other clan members could not. Even if I were to somehow overpower you, what then? Your actions here have only confirmed what your father and I suspected, that they were aware of our plans for a coup from the beginning. If I were to somehow escape, I'm pretty sure I would end up quietly executed or caged in some dank prison." Mikoto's eyes hardened. "I have no desire to spend the rest of my life in a prison."

"Then… do you wish me to end it quickly, now?" said Itachi.

Mikoto laughed again, her expression and posture perfectly composed into the look of the ideal Clan Matriarch. "Oh, no dear. I have no desire to have my life ended by my own son. I think that would be the ultimate failure as a mother." Mikoto stared hard at Itachi. "Was I that bad of a mother? Did I fail you so utterly?"

Itachi's face was as hard as stone. "There was no failure on your part mother. I am merely following my duty."

Mikoto rolled her eyes "Duty. What has duty ever done for anyone? Does it give them a sense of purpose? Yes, but it is someone else's purpose, someone else's goals." Mikoto's expression turned sorrowful. "You never did live for yourself. You did everything your father and I wanted you to do when you were a boy. But it wasn't enough for you, was it?"

"No." Itachi's reply was as cold as the shrine they were in.

Mikoto sighed. "I hoped that one day; you would find a reason to live. Outside of your father and I. I do not like that you ran into the arms of the village leaders, however."

"No, there is something else that I live for." Said Itachi; the denial an uncharacteristic outburst.

His mother smiled, the warm smile that used to touch his heart, "Yes, Sasuke. I'm not blind; I see the way you look over him. You would never harm Sasuke. If I had even an inkling that you did, this meeting would have been a lot different."

Her smile turned sad. "Promise me, Itachi. Promise that you will always look after Sasuke."

To Itachi, the reply was obvious. "Of course, Mother. As well as I am able."

Mikoto lifted her cup of tea in salute. "With that promise in mind, I can die happy. Now, drink your tea before it gets cold."

Itachi sniffed at the cup, it was his mother's special recipe. "This is not poisoned." It was a statement not a question.

His mother sniffed in disdain. "I wouldn't poison my son's tea." The smile returned to her face "_My _cup, however, is a much different story."

Mikoto raised the cup to her lips and gulped down the last dregs of her tea. "It's quite painless, tasteless too, so it didn't spoil the tea."

Her eyes began to dim. "I can already feel it working… be a good boy Itachi… look after Sasuke for me."

Her eyes closed. They would never open again. Her posture remained composed, however, even in death, she looked the perfect noblewoman.

Itachi wanted to be satisfied, his mother's death was painless, but… he couldn't feel a thing. He felt empty.

But that emptiness did not last long. For the first time since he walked into the compound, Itachi felt something. Hate. Hate for himself. The hatred he felt deep within his soul turned inward. He could hear a part of himself whisper in his mind.

"_How dare you feel nothing over your own mother's death."_

Itachi allowed himself a minute to savour the tea his mother brewed for him. He then got up, bowed deeply to his mother, and stalked out of the room.

* * *

The taste of his mother's tea was still in his mouth when he approached the compound entrance. There was nothing left for him here.

Before he could make it to the gate, it was opened from the outside. His brother, Sasuke stepped inside, a smile on his face.

"Brother! I…" Sasuke saw the blood covering his brother and the smile died into confusion. Another look revealed several corpses of his kinsman, and the confusion gave way to panic and fear.

"B-brother…. W-what happened…?" His voice was quiet, trailing off as the horror in front of the young boy overwhelmed him.

"I killed our family, Sasuke." Said Itachi; his voice a dull monotone.

Sasuke's eyes widened even further, the concept of his brother. The person he respected the most in the world committing such a heinous act was almost incomprehensible.

"W…why?" His voice came out as a mere whisper.

Itachi stared at his brother, he dearly wished that he was just a few minutes sooner leaving, or that Sasuke was a little later in returning. But it was too late for what ifs. "I killed them Sasuke, because they were a threat. A threat to me… and to you."

Sasuke's face was a mask of fear. "A t-th-threat?"

Itachi looked at his little brother with an inscrutable expression on his face. "Yes, Sasuke. They were holding us both back. They were restraining us. They were weak and corrupt and so I expunged them. Now, of the Uchiha clan, only two still exist. Me… and you."

Itachi knew that Sasuke would never truly accept that his brother and hero could do such a thing. So throughout his little speech, his Sharingan was boring directly into Sasuke's terrified eyes; his hypnotism convincing him of the truth.

"A-are you going t-to kill m-me too?" said Sasuke, his voice sounding broken to even his ears.

Itachi did not respond to that question, continuing to stare down at his brother…

* * *

"… _But my Lord Hokage; I have a request."_

_Danzō raised an eyebrow, but the Hokage merely motioned for Itachi to continue._

"_Please allow me to spare my brother, Sasuke."_

_An expression Itachi could not describe flashed over the Hokage's face; before the regular grandfatherly smile returned. "I will allow it. He will be watched however, just in case."_

_Danzō's one eye glittered. "I was going to suggest sparing him anyway. It would be a waste to completely destroy the clan. With Sasuke, we have a chance of restoring them to prominence one day."_

_The Hokage glanced at his old rival sharply, before continuing to speak to Itachi. "Sasuke will be spared… and protected. You have my word on it."_

"_Thank you… Lord Hokage." _

"_Don't forget, make it convincing, Itachi…" Warned Danzō; his words echoing around the dark room._

* * *

"No, I'm not going to kill you brother. That would be a waste."

Sasuke could only stare at his brother, unable to muster a reply.

"Sasuke… I was not lying when I told you that one day I would teach you everything I know about ninjutsu." Itachi thumped his chest "Every technique and skill our clan knew is within me. I am aware of every secret of our clan. And I will share them with you." Itachi bent down to look at Sasuke straight in the eyes. "I will share them with you in battle."

Itachi grabbed Sasuke by both sides of his head, his Sharingan morphing into the Mangekyō. Stricken with terror and confusion, Sasuke did nothing to resist. The enhanced Sharingan started spinning wildly, burning an image deep into Sasuke's mind. With the power of the Sharingan empowering his every word, Itachi spoke the sentences that would direct Sasuke's life for years to come.

"Grow powerful, brother. Train, train hard every day, seek teachings from every master; become as powerful as you can become. And, when you have reached the plateau of power I now stand on, we will face each other. Through the blood of battle, we will both teach each other everything we know, and when one of us falls, the other will become the pinnacle of humanity."

Itachi would have wept if he still had tears left in him to shed. Sasuke's innocence would be lost this day, and it was by his doing. But… he was still alive. Though the path he has set him on was a dark one, he would grow strong, strong enough that one day he will never again need his brother to watch over him anymore.

After absentmindedly stroking his little brother's hair; Itachi got up and walked out of the place he grew up, and into the darkening light…

He tried to convince himself that it wasn't Sasuke he could hear screaming.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was dreaming, but nowadays he no longer dreamed of things other children dreamt of. Games, playing and Ramen was not something that appeared in his dreams anymore.

All that mattered was the mountain, the Hokage Mountain. An impossibly large wall of stone; where the heads of the four Hokage looked down upon him from an impossible height.

Naruto has endeavoured to climb this mountain, after some encouragement from the enigmatic man in red armour. Of course, as if by magic the very action of thinking about this man made him appear. After the next few feet of climbing the mountain, Naruto found himself pulled up by a large armoured hand to a small ledge on the mountain, just big enough for both of them to sit on.

"Greetings, Naruto." Said the deep voice of the Stranger.

"Hi… I guess…" Grumbled Naruto.

"What's wrong?" Replied the stranger.

"Well… I've been climbing this thing for ages! But you don't have to climb it at all!"

Behind his mortal guise, Kurama snorted. "That's because I'm… a part of you. A part of your mind. I am technically a part of this dream, and so don't have to go through the effort of climbing it as you do." The steel helm turned to face Naruto. "Besides, this is not my test, but yours."

"Well… I guess you got a point, it just doesn't seem fair." Said Naruto; a pout adorning on his face.

The Stranger shrugged. "The fairness of life is a lesson for another day. Today, I wish to talk to you about something else."

Naruto gave him a sidelong look. "About what, geezer?"

The Stranger hesitated for the briefest of moments. "I want to talk, about… duty. I feel that it is something that you must understand sooner rather than later."

Naruto frowned. "What's duty got to do with anything?"

"Duty has to do with everything, especially if you wish to become Hokage." Admonished the Stranger. "If you wish to become Hokage, you will have to understand it."

As always, at the mention of becoming Hokage, Naruto was all ears. "Okay! What do I need to know geezer?"

Putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder, the armoured man spoke. "As a shinobi of Konoha, you will have a duty, an obligation, towards the village. You will be called upon to defend it, to serve its citizens and to fight its enemies. You will be commanded to do many things. Some of these things may be tasks you don't want or like to do, or to help someone you would not want to help, or to fight someone you would not want to fight. In short, as a shinobi you will have a duty towards others that you serve."

The Stranger paused, allowing what he said to sink in. "But; that is only one facet of duty. There is another, more important part that many tend to forget. There is another side to duty, that only the truly great hold dear."

Naruto stared hard into the deep-red eyes behind the helm. "What is it?"

Kurama returned the stare, looking into his host's ocean-blue eyes. "The duty towards yourself. You may be called upon to do things that you may not agree with, and most of the time, you have to follow this duty. But no matter what your duty for others calls for you to do; you must never lose your way. You have an obligation to yourself, a duty to uphold your virtues, your beliefs, and your identity. If you ever forget your personal duty, if you ever allow others to dictate everything that you are; you will never be worthy enough to become a leader of men."

Naruto continued to stare at the mysterious man for a moment longer, before looking up at the stone heads of the Hokage. "Duty..."

Naruto woke up; his eyes fluttering open to gaze at his blank ceiling.

"_Never lose your way."_

The words of the Stranger echoed throughout his mind, Naruto would stay in bed a little longer than usual that day; allowing the wisdom the Stranger offered him to play through his mind.

* * *

With a backpack containing all of his worldly possessions over his shoulder, Itachi Uchiha walked away from the village he had sacrificed everything to protect.

Hurting Sasuke wounded him, but he was at peace knowing that his duty to the village was upheld. He protected the village from the threat of his family, and with any luck, Sasuke would recover from his ordeal.

Itachi thought back to the techniques he had discovered with the Mangekyō Sharingan, like the Tsukuyomi. It could have been much worse for Sasuke if he considered testing such a twisted technique on his brother. But that would have been foolish, a regular hypnotism was all that was required to steer Sasuke down the required path.

Suddenly, Itachi felt a presence close to him, spinning around to face it, his tantō in hand. Itachi prepared to engage this perceived threat.

Almost immediately after Itachi prepared to fight, a man wearing an orange mask with wild, shaggy hair stepped out of the shadow of a tree.

With a manic voice that felt as the dark as the shadows it originated from, the masked man spoke. "Greetings… Mister Uchiha, I come in peace. I have a… proposition for you…"

* * *

**And that's it folks. I really hope you enjoyed it. I decided to flesh out the Uchiha Massacre for a couple of reasons. The first is because I don't think I've ever read a fanfic where it is fleshed out to any great detail. I also wanted to show the divergence of Sasuke's character from canon. How will this Sasuke be different? Only time will tell. Another big reason is because of Fugaku. I have never, ever, read a fanfiction where this guy ever gets a fight scene, actually… that's not true, I have read one or two fanfics which show him getting completely owned by his opponent. That is stupid in my opinion, Fugaku Uchiha was the head of the Uchiha clan, and therefore had to have been a skilled Jōnin. In my fanfic, Fugaku actually gets a few seconds in the spotlight.**

**Also, I hoped you guys liked my rendition of Itachi, he won't be seen again for a while, but he'll have an important role in the future.**

**Once again thank you for reading this chapter (and the few people who actually read these authors notes) and hope you enjoy the chapters to come. **


	4. Paperwork, Powder and Responsibility

**Greetings! This chapter took longer to write than I had planned, so I'm sorry about that. I hope you enjoy this latest instalment. I would like to thank everyone who has favourited and followed my story so far, and an extra big thank you for those who Reviewed, you're all great. A few author's notes (for those who are interested) are at the bottom of the chapter. [Edited 19/06/2016]**

**(And because I have forgotten the last few times)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

It was a bright morning sun that greeted Hiruzen Sarutobi as he looked out of the window of his office in the Hokage tower. He felt like it was mocking him. For such wonderful summer weather to dawn just hours after a brutal massacre that he himself had ordered… It felt wrong.

But what he thought about the weather did not truly matter in the grand scheme of things; so he put it out of his mind. He had a difficult day ahead of him, and gloomy thoughts about the weather would only make it more irritating.

Turning away from the window, the Third Hokage seated himself at his desk. He had been in his office for only a minute or two when one of his Chūnin secretaries walked in; with several folders in one hand and a tray of breakfast balanced on the crook of his other arm.

"Here is your breakfast Lord Hokage. Also, here are the preliminary reports on the… event last night."

After placing a tray consisting of a bowl of steamed rice and fish on the desk, the Chūnin bowed deeply to his leader and handed him the documents before stepping back out of the office.

Sliding the tray of food to one side, Hiruzen placed the folders in front of him. With a swipe of a finger, he deactivated the security seals keeping them locked from curious eyes, and took out several reports from the first folder.

As he suspected, the first folder was filled with preliminary reports on what was already being dubbed 'the Uchiha Massacre'. He skipped over the first report; he knew its contents already. He had Danzō send an agent to 'stumble upon' suspicious activity within the Uchiha compound. After the agent 'found' one shell-shocked Sasuke Uchiha and several dead members of the Uchiha clan, the alarm was raised.

The next few reports were an analysis of the event, along with a few autopsy reports, with some pictures attached for good measure. Hiruzen felt a flash or morbid pride that his ninja teams were so thorough, before quashing it. Pride was definitely not a feeling he wanted to attach to these events.

According to the report, the majority of the clan were quickly eliminated with killing blows to major arteries. There were a few rather notable exceptions however. Such as poor Inabi Uchiha; Hiruzen felt sorry for whoever had to scavenge for the pieces of the Chūnin's skull.

Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha were also another sticking point. It was made quite clear by the coroner that the Uchiha clan head had fought hard, if the bruising on his knuckles and other extremities was any indication. But the way he was struck from behind indicated he was captured by a genjutsu before he was slain.

Mikoto Uchiha appeared to have taken her own life with a poison of her own making. There were even some cliff notes on her report that revealed just how effective the poison was. Unfortunately, there were no stores of it, and there was too little of it in her system to synthesise more.

The only real report of importance in the first folder is the testimony of Uchiha Sasuke. After the traumatised boy was coaxed out of his fear by the medic-nin, he reported that it was his brother, Itachi Uchiha that committed the murders.

This was, Hiruzen mused, yet another good reason (among many others) to keep Sasuke alive. It allowed his shinobi to quickly identify the culprit without having to spend hours analysing the compound for clues. Of course, they did that anyway in order to corroborate the boy's story. But at least this way, warrants of arrest could be quickly drawn up for the rogue ANBU commander.

It was also interesting to read his ninja's thoughts on Itachi being the perpetrator. It was, of course, no surprise to him that Itachi had 'gone rogue'; but poling his ninja's opinions on the matter may be useful for later analysis.

After skimming these reports, Hiruzen carefully placed them back in the first folder and picked up the second folder. This was the more important file, as it held documents pertaining to the short and long-term aftermath of the massacre.

After confirming without a doubt that it was Itachi who had committed the massacre; the various documents required to discharge him from official service were drawn up to await his signature. After reading the documents carefully in order to verify them, the Hokage added his signature and seal to them, making them legally binding. There were also documents to brand Itachi an S-ranked rogue ninja, or missing-nin. These were also signed, with an extra note to add him to the bingo-book and place a bounty on his head, the amount to be determined before the next edition was published.

After that nasty bit of paperwork was done, Hiruzen turned his attention to other documents within the file. These documents were about three things. What to do about the Uchiha clan compound, the Konoha Military Police, and most importantly, what to do about Sasuke Uchiha.

The compound was an easy decision, Hiruzen signed the orders to have the compound cleaned up and then sealed off. More can be done with those buildings at a later time, but that would do for now.

The Military Police was another matter. This organisation was comprised almost entirely of Uchiha clan members, so only a few low-ranking members still remain. This was troubling for many reasons. With the Military Police decimated, an important piece of Konoha's infrastructure was severely damaged; that infrastructure being the ability to easily enforce the law.

The Military Police headquarters was also Konoha's internal prison. Without anyone maintaining it, it would be impossible to use as a deterrent for petty crime such as being drunk and disorderly or shoplifting, etcetera.

Konoha is a ninja village, so it naturally had little in the way of crime. But what little there was was easily handled by the Military Police. The organisation was also an effective way of enforcing discipline in the ninja forces. What shinobi or kunoichi would be willing to show a lackadaisical attitude if they knew someone had the ability to watch and evaluate them?

Even as he considered this, Hiruzen pulled out another report by the financial analysis division. It stated that without the Konoha Military Police, crime rates and the level of ninja going rogue would slowly increase over time.

That could not be allowed. Hiruzen did not order the annihilation of the Uchiha just for the village to slip into anarchy anyway. It would be a horrible betrayal of his predecessors and the future generations to come.

Quickly, the Hokage wrote up several orders for the Military Police headquarters to be temporarily maintained. He also signed a document to draft volunteers for a new Police force. With luck, Hiruzen will be able to reform the Military Police from the ground up, something he had always wished to do.

With those troublesome issues out of the way. Hiruzen now had to decide what to do about Sasuke Uchiha. The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair in thought. Thinking back to when he met the boy personally last night.

* * *

_Hiruzen Sarutobi strode through the doors of the Konoha hospital. As it was the dead of night, very few saw him enter, and those who did knew better than to question his presence. Of the few who were manning the hospital night-shift, only a fraction of them knew his purpose for coming here. That purpose soon became clear as he single-mindedly strode towards an isolated, heavily guarded ward; the ward that held Sasuke Uchiha._

_Brushing past the ANBU operatives who were guarding the ward, Hiruzen came face to face with the last living Uchiha in Konoha. _

_After taking a moment to look at the figure sitting hunched over the edge of a hospital bed; the first thing that came to Hiruzen's mind was that he looked so small. This young boy had learned that his beloved brother slaughtered every single member of their family. This small, fragile child has had his entire world view shattered into a dark ruin. _

_And it was all his doing._

_Bending down on old aching knees, the Third Hokage placed his weathered hands on the boy's shoulders. After a moment, slowly, hesitantly, the boy looked up._

"_Lord Hokage…" said Sasuke, his voice sounding as if it were coming from far away._

_Staring into the vacant eyes of his victim, the platitudes and speeches died from Hiruzen's lips. The only words the Hokage could muster came from deep inside his old heart:_

"_I'm… so sorry Sasuke."_

_It was a short sentence; something that people say often, most of the time with little meaning behind it. But it was the only thing he could say. For Sasuke, it was enough. The child's vacant eyes regained their lustre, and it was apparent to the old man that the reality of what had happened had finally dawned. In that moment of clarity, Sasuke burst into tears. _

_The only thing the Hokage could do was bring the boy into a hug; allowing the boy he had indirectly brutalised to cry into his robes. It was just as well that Sasuke couldn't see the Hokage's face, as it was as hard as stone._

_One boy's happiness for the safety of the village; it was a fair trade._

* * *

With a shake of his head, the Hokage stirred himself from his musings. It was a shame about what had happened to Sasuke, and to Itachi, but it was the best option for everyone in the long run.

Without further thought on the matter, Hiruzen quickly signed the documents making the young Uchiha a Ward of the State. He also arranged for a small apartment for the boy to reside in, and also put aside some time in his weekly schedule to meet the boy and hash out any details regarding the Uchiha properties, which he technically owned as the last living legal benefactor.

After that bit of business was finished, Hiruzen packed up the contents of the second folder and turned to his breakfast.

But after taking one look at the food he let out a muted curse. He had spent so long doing paperwork and being lost in thought that the rice was beginning to turn dry and hard.

Without further preamble, the mightiest ninja in the village began scoffing down his breakfast with gusto. It wouldn't do to allow his food to go stale, and besides, he had quite a bit more work to do before lunch

While chewing on some fish, the Hokage absentmindedly reached out for the third and final folder. This folder containing details for the new academic year at the Ninja Academy.

* * *

Iruka Umino was, for all intents and purposes, an average shinobi. His ninjutsu was average, his genjutsu was average, and his taijutsu was average. His skill with ninja tools and weaponry was average, and so was his grasp of the more esoteric arts, such as fūinjutsu. His height was average, his build was average, and even his standard issue Konoha Chūnin uniform had absolutely no unique features whatsoever.

Oh he had a few tricks up his sleeve, but what those tricks were and what they did was known only to him and him alone. But ninja were supposed to have tricks no one else knew, that was part of the profession, so even in that, he was average.

Completely, and utterly, average.

So it was a great surprise to him, that after he had completed his morning duties in the administration building, he was summoned by the Hokage to meet with him personally in his office.

Iruka knew this sort of thing didn't happen to people like him. The Hokage did not call for personal meetings with career Chūnin such as himself. He simply didn't have the time or inclination. Oh sure he made sure to personally offer missions to starting Genin in order to boost their confidence and inspire them. Jōnin and up-and-coming Chūnin also often got that special one-on-one treatment; they were the stars of the village after all. But someone like Iruka? No.

Iruka was still trying to understand why the Hokage would summon him even as he approached the door to his office. Seeing that he was almost at his destination, he put such thoughts out of his mind. It would do no good to meet the Hokage while lost in thought.

Taking a deep breath, the young Chūnin knocked on the Hokage's office door. No sooner had he done so then an aged voice answered him.

"Ah, is that you Iruka? Come in, the door isn't locked."

With the barest hint of trepidation, Iruka opened the door and stepped foot into his leader's office. Inside, he was greeted by a friendly smile and a warm greeting.

"It is good to see you Iruka." The Hokage gestured to a chair in front of his desk. "Please, sit down."

More relaxed after such a friendly greeting, Iruka quickly crossed the distance of the office, and after bowing in deference to his leader, sat down in the proffered seat.

"Chūnin Umino reporting to your office as commanded, Lord Hokage."

The Hokage waved away the formalities with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Please, there is no need for such ceremony. I promise you are not in any trouble."

With effort he hoped wasn't visible, Iruka did his best to relax. "If that is the case, while I am honoured that you have personally requested to see me, I am unaware as to why I am here. What is it you wish of me, Lord Hokage?"

Instead of answering him, the Hokage pulled out a file from a large folder that was next to a tray and an empty rice bowl. Without looking at him, the village leader began reading from the opened file. "Iruka Umino. Age: Eighteen. Rank: Chūnin. Currently working in the Administration sector, but recently passed the Academy Teacher's exam." The Hokage looked up from his notes. "The report also states your mission records and aptitude tests, but those aren't all that important right now. What I am most interested in is your reasoning for applying to be a teacher at the Academy. You are a very young man Iruka, why do you want to become a teacher at your age?"

Iruka cocked his head in confusion. "If this report has that much information in it, shouldn't it also have my reasoning written down on it?"

The Hokage shrugged. "It has the reason you wrote down in your written examination; 'To pass the Will of Fire down to the next generation.' It is a good answer, but it is also the textbook answer, something written down in order to pass an exam. What is your _real_ reason?"

Iruka frowned. "I never lied, I do want to pass the Will of Fire down to the next generation, but," his eyes took on a faraway gaze, as he became lost in thought, "that's only part of it. I'm sure on that report of yours it states that I am an orphan."

The Hokage's expression turned sorrowful. "I am, of course, aware of this. I still remember the night I comforted you after those terrible events seven years ago."

Iruka continued on as if he hadn't heard him. "A lot of down-on-their-luck kids join the Ninja Academy because it's the easiest thing to get into. There's no need to desperately search for an apprenticeship into another trade, or scrounge up the money to go to a civilian school here or in the Capital. All you have to do is be healthy and promise to work hard and love the village, that's all you have to do. Some of these kids don't have well-to-do parents or any parents at all."

The Hokage took that moment to interrupt. "You feel as if you can help these children."

Nodding in agreement to his leader's perceptive comment, Iruka continued. "When I was in the Academy, I noticed how my teachers would favour certain students over others. Kids from established clans, or kids with rich parents, or those with more talent than others. Oh, they wouldn't neglect anyone, but people who were average or worse, like myself, tended to get side-lined. I never felt that was fair, or right. As a teacher at the Academy, every child in my care will be treated fairly."

The Hokage gave Iruka an appraising look. "Even if one of those children was Naruto Uzumaki?"

To his credit, Iruka did not flinch. "I… meant what I said. Everyone in my class will be treated equally, despite any personal feelings I may have."

The Hokage stroked his chin in thought, before taking a document that was underneath a stack of folders and signing it. "Alright then, if that's the case, you will be teaching the class Naruto Uzumaki is in."

For a moment Iruka was taken aback, the Hokage's seemingly abrupt decision had obviously startled him. "Forgive my rudeness Lord Hokage, but are you certain? If I remember correctly, the class Naruto is in has already completed a year in the Academy. I was aware that new teachers normally observe classes for a term before they begin teaching on their own, and a first-year class at that."

The Hokage chuckled. "That is indeed the usual protocol, but I have a feeling that you have what it takes already. After listening to your impassioned speech just now, I know you have the Will of Fire within you." His expression turned sombre. "Also, your desire to treat your students fairly and equally will be perfect for the class I want you to teach. It is not just the young Uzumaki in that class, but many children with amazing potential. Many of them are scions from notable clans, most of them heirs at that. There are quite a few teachers at the Academy who would give them preferential treatment, to the detriment of other students with no such connections. Naruto Uzumaki is one such student."

Iruka's frown returned. "So… you're giving me this class because I just said I will treat everyone fairly."

The Hokage nodded in agreement to the young Chūnin's response. "The teacher who taught Naruto's class in the first-year had a predilection to favour certain students. The young Sasuke Uchiha is a distinct example." At this, the Hokage paused. "I assume you are aware of what happened last night?"

Iruka's eyes grew wide. "I… had heard the rumours, but I didn't know if they were accurate or not."

The Hokage grunted. "Well whatever you heard, it's probably worse. I will grant you the necessary clearance so you know exactly what happened. It will be important for you to know as you will be Sasuke's teacher. Now, do you have any questions?"

Iruka was silent for a moment, before responding. "I'm not the only eighteen year old Chūnin who took the Teacher's Examination. My friend, Mizuki, also passed it, and I believe him to be somewhat superior in terms of skill. You made a point about my age, so why only summon me?"

The Third answered immediately. "Mizuki is a stalwart member of the Shinobi corps, and I am glad that he wishes to help the next-generation along. However, he is also a very reserved man; while he would do his best, I do not believe he would ever be able to be truly genuine with his emotions or his teaching. Besides, despite your friendship I could always detect a rivalry between you and him when you were Genin. If you did something, so did Mizuki. I suspect he may have applied for the Teaching program simply because you did."

Iruka found that he could not find a fault in his leader's reasoning. But before he could form a response, the Hokage continued speaking.

"I also disagree with your assessment that Mizuki is more skilled than you. As I may have mentioned earlier, your report has a reasonably detailed analysis of your skills and abilities. I won't bore you with specifics. But in short it says that you are average in every field; e_very _field."

The Hokage gave Iruka a significant look, "Do you know just how rare that is? A shinobi that has mid-level skills in taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and virtually every other field of shinobi study? There are Tokubetsu Jōnin who lack such… versatility. It is true that you have little in the way of specialisation, save perhaps the intelligence required to become an Academy Teacher; but your lack of specialisation is also your strength. You have a grounding in every shinobi discipline, you are well rounded, a 'jack-of-all-trades', the perfect person to teach young ninja and to help them understand what they would wish to specialise in."

Iruka was shocked at his Hokage's words, he had never thought of his abilities that way before. Taking a moment to come to terms with what his leader had told him, Iruka rose from his seat and bowed in respect.

"Lord Hokage; Chūnin Iruka Umino gladly accepts the posting at the Konoha Academy."

A wan smile graced the Third's face. "Good. I will schedule a meeting here tomorrow with yourself and your new class's last teacher in order to discuss a curriculum. We should hurry, the new Term starts in August, so we only have a month to make plans."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "A month should be more than enough time, sir."

The smile on the Hokage's face spread into a wry grin. "Not when someone like Naruto is involved. In fact, I'm sure he is up to no good right now…"

* * *

To Naruto Uzumaki, the world was a magical place. It's full of smells, tastes and sights that fed the imagination and fired up the soul. In his honest opinion, if you cared to look, and if you were willing to open your mind, then you could easily find some adventure and excitement anywhere you go.

Of course, the young Uzumaki's usual opinion of adventure and excitement normally meant trouble for other people.

True to the Third Hokage's predictions, Naruto Uzumaki was indeed up to no good.

Standing on a rooftop, Naruto surveyed the sights beneath him. From his vantage point directly above the main Konoha marketplace, everyone looked so small.

Things had been strange for the young ninja-in-training recently. The weird dreams he had been having were making the boy think in ways he never had before. Determination… Duty… these were concepts he had heard about, but never really understood. Naruto was still uncertain about what he had learned, but it certainly gave him something to think about.

But you can only ponder the imponderables for so long. Sitting down and thinking about intangible concepts just wasn't something Naruto could do for very long, at least not yet. There was just no point. He could think about it and think about it, but random ideas and metaphors weren't going to suddenly become real and important just because he wanted them to.

So, putting aside such thoughts and worries for now, Naruto returned to his observations on the villagers below him. Not only did they look small, they looked miserable too. Their heads were drooped downwards; they were hunched over, and their arms were either hanging limply at their sides or crossed over themselves. This was strange to Naruto, sure the villagers could be really boring, but they were never depressed, not like this anyway.

Now that he thought about it, something felt different today. Normally the police guys patrolled the area, but they weren't there. Instead he noticed a single masked ninja who could only be an ANBU agent half-hidden by the shadow of a market stall. Did something happen? Was that why everyone looked so down?

Well, he could always find out the reason later. But at least this way he could cheer everyone up!

Hefting a thin paper bag full of talcum powder in his hands, Naruto took a moment to marvel at what some people threw out. In his short life, he had seen some weird stuff tossed into the trash, but he had never seen a giant tub of talcum powder chucked out before. Of course, Naruto was not one to waste such an opportunity.

And so without further ado, Naruto carefully lifted the bag above his head, took aim, and threw it at the gloomiest looking person he could see.

The guy he had struck looked like he had just lost all of his life-savings, and maybe he had. But if that was the case, he just got something in return, a bag full of talcum powder bursting in his face. Naruto could only imagine the look of shock on his face as the formerly depressed guy was completely enveloped in the white powder. Seeing everyone around that guy jump up like startled chickens almost made Naruto completely lose it then and there.

Of course, Naruto wasn't going to stop at just one person; you can fill a lot of bags from a big tub of talcum powder. Laughing merrily, Naruto continued to bombard the villagers below him. It wasn't long before dozens of Konoha's civilian population were covered in white powder.

Continuing to laugh at the sight below him, Naruto started to run, jumping towards the nearest adjacent rooftop. He was lucky, the ANBU agent seemed to have found it funny too, or he would have stopped him already. As it was, it wouldn't be long before he gave chase.

Still chuckling as he ran, Naruto allowed a grin to spread across his face. At that moment, it didn't matter that people averted their eyes when he walked by, or pull their children away when he glanced in their direction. There was no way those people in the market could ignore him today.

Even if those he had pranked grumbled and cursed now, some would go home, look at themselves in the mirror, and laugh. For those few who could see the funny side, Naruto was able to bring some adventure and excitement into their lives. They would forget about whatever was making them sad, and smile.

And until he became Hokage, that was all the young Uzumaki could hope for.

* * *

Inside of his dark, dank and nigh-impenetrable prison, Kurama was startled out of his meditations by a surge of emotion from his host.

Kurama was surprised at the feeling of pure elation that he could feel flowing from the tenuous link he had formed within the Uzumaki boy's mind. What could possibly make the boy that happy? Tentatively, the Kyūbi allowed a portion of his consciousness to connect to that link, and within moments he was viewing the boy's most recent memories.

…

"What?"

All Kurama could see were a group of mortals covered in some form of dusty white powder. The majority of whom were jumping around like frightened rabbits.

Although he had been trapped in several mortal hosts over the past century, Kurama could not remember any such custom among mortals. Was this new?

Scratching his head with one claw, Kurama turned away from his host's memories. Some deep instinct within the immortal being was telling him that whatever caused that scene was his host's doing.

Endeavouring to investigate the boy's memories of the event later, Kurama returned to his meditations. The Kyūbi realised he had a lot more work ahead of him before the boy was presentable. The Uzumaki was a challenge, even for the greatest fragment of a God.

Perhaps a lesson on Responsibility was in order…

* * *

**And that's a wrap. I'm afraid this chapter is more of a filler chapter than anything else. But I needed to write something about the Uchiha Massacre's aftermath. This chapter is all about setting up the first true "arc" of the story, The Academy Arc! **

**Like the Massacre, the Academy tends to get glossed over as well. But Naruto and most of the main cast spend at least six years of their lives in this institution, so it will have a chapter or two dedicated to it. **

**I've noticed that I haven't written much from Naruto's perspective yet. There is a reason for that, he's seven. At this moment in his life, Naruto is not yet a major player, but fear not, Naruto will get a lot more face-time later in the story.**

**Speaking of ages; after some research, I have discovered that Itachi was thirteen when he killed his clan in canon. That didn't fly with me, he just didn't look that young, so I've bumped his age up to fifteen. It feels more believable to me, and it's a small enough increase in age that it isn't noticeable in the grand scheme of things.**

**Anyway, filler or not I hope you have enjoyed reading this chapter. With luck the next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long as this one did.**


	5. Academy Days - Part 1

**Hello! I have been flabbergasted by the reaction I have had to this story, over one-hundred favourites, and over one-hundred and fifty followers! I thank each and every one of you, and an extra big thank you to those who have taken their time to Review, you guys are awesome. I hope you enjoy this latest instalment of my story. [Edited 19/06/2016]**

* * *

Just over a month had gone by since the Uchiha Massacre, and the people of Konoha had gotten back to the normal routine of their lives.

The first two weeks after the massacre were tense. The Uchiha clan was, arguably, the strongest clan in Konoha; but they were all slain by a single man. What was to stop the same thing happening to other clans, or worse, civilians who could not protect themselves? But after the Hokage posted ANBU in the streets, those fears died down.

The ANBU were only a temporary measure however, and it was announced that the Konoha Military Police would be restored very soon. With representatives from every clan in order to share the responsibility and eliminate bias. Many semi-retired ninja had also applied for positions in the new police force as a way of continuing their duty to the village, even if they no longer wished to take missions outside of its walls.

With the restoration of the Konoha Military Police now official, the general public calmed down. Life returned to normal, as normal as you can get in a ninja village anyway. A part of that normality was the beginning of the new academic year at the ninja Academy.

For many people, it would be a fresh start.

* * *

With an easy smile and a relaxed mood, Naruto Uzumaki made his way through the gates of the Konoha Academy.

Having an entire month off had been great, but it got boring after a while. There was only so much you could do outside of the Academy, and as most people shied away from him, he didn't have much of a social life to fall back on.

Sure there was that friendly ramen stand owner and his daughter, but Naruto's wallet just isn't capable of withstanding daily visits. Old man Hokage was also a great guy to hang around with, but he was always SUPER busy, and except for a few times when he ate ramen with him, or told him some old stories about the Village, he was unable to spend too much time with him.

Of course, when he wasn't with the Old man, or eating ramen, or exploring and having fun; Naruto was dreaming. Almost every night, Naruto climbed the mountain, and every time he did the man in red armour was watching. The young Uzumaki found it a bit creepy at first, but after some time had passed, the mysterious man just became another fixture of the dream, albeit a talkative one.

Most of the time, the enigmatic figure gave Naruto short lectures on morality and ethics, but recently he would give him riddles. Naruto remembered asking the Stranger why he was doing this, and the Stranger's reply was still vivid in his mind.

"_All of life is one big riddle, boy. Nothing is straightforward; the answers will never be obvious. You will require guile and cunning to decipher the answers you seek. Remember that when you go to the Academy tomorrow, it may help you."_

Shaking his head to clear the memory away; Naruto strode into the Academy's interior. It was a strange feeling, it had only been a month, but it felt much longer to the aspiring shinobi. The place looked exactly the same, no one had changed anything in the building, that much was obvious, but something was definitely different. It was a feeling in Naruto's gut, something had changed. But was it a good change? There was only one way to find out.

Naruto kept walking down the hall, passing by the classroom he had spent his first year in. He paused for a moment to take a peek inside, Old Man Hokage was there, giving the same speech he gave his class last year. Naruto had heard all of that before, and was going to move on, when he noticed that his teacher from last year, Instructor Daikoku Funeno, was also there. That was strange; he was told that the Academy teachers moved up a grade along with their students. What was that about?

After a moment's thought, and deciding that it didn't really matter, Naruto continued down the hall, to the second-year classroom. It wasn't long before he found the right place. Of course, after finding where he was supposed to go, what was the best way to make a strong first impression?

The answer should be obvious.

With all of his strength, Naruto slid the door open (nearly tearing it off the wall in the process) and jumped into the room; spreading his arms out to receive his adoring public.

"Everyone can relax! For the great Naruto Uzumaki has arrived!"

* * *

Inside of a seal bound by the power of Heaven and Earth; one of the most powerful beings in the world palmed his face in despair.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the dismay of the semi-divine entity residing in his gut, Naruto studied the faces of his classmates. It had been a while since he had seen them all, but despite that, it hadn't looked like they had changed at all. Chōji still had his hand in a bag of chips, Shikamaru was still looking like he was going to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, Shino still looked creepy, and Kiba still looked like an asshole.

Of course, after suddenly jumping into a room full of people, the young Uzumaki couldn't afford to stare off into space. Without missing a beat Naruto did an abrupt turn towards the teacher's desk and saluted him. "Naruto Uzumaki, present and accounted for."

For the first time, Naruto got a good look at his new teacher. He was a nondescript man, wearing the traditional Chūnin uniform. He wore a neutral expression on his face, his only defining feature being a long scar running across his nose.

It wasn't long before Naruto's new teacher formed a response. "Well, after such a… spirited introduction, I'll ask you to find a seat, Uzumaki."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice, and within moments the ninja-in-training bounded up the stairs and dropped down into an open seat next to Chōji. Naruto wasn't stupid; if he kept on Chōji's good side he might just get a chip or two. Free food is free food after all. They exchanged pleasant grunts with one another, before turning their attention toward their new teacher.

After waiting a second or two for everyone to turn their attention to him, the class's new teacher spoke. "Greetings class. Now that we are all here, I shall introduce myself properly. I am Instructor Iruka Umino, and I am going to be your principle teacher for this year, and probably all the years after that until you graduate. As this is my first time meeting all of you, I would love to get to know everyone better before the week is out." The now named Iruka clasped his hands together. "So, for the first few minutes of the day, let's have a quick question and answer session. But instead of me asking you the questions, it'll be the other way around, but when you ask me something, I would like you to tell me your name as well. So, who's first?"

A small forest of hands shot up, and Naruto saw Iruka point towards someone near the front of the class.

"Um… my name is Sakura Haruno, and if it's okay to ask, what happened to Instructor Daikoku? I thought he would be our teacher like he was last year."

"An excellent question, Sakura. Instructor Daikoku has decided not to move up a year alongside you and has instead opted to teach this year's group of first year students. While he may take you for some classes, he will no longer be your principle teacher. Now are there any other questions?"

Surprisingly, Naruto saw Shikamaru raise a hand. It was strange to see that lazy bones do anything except sleep. It looked like Iruka could somehow sense that this was a rare occasion, and pointed towards the lazy Nara.

"My name is Shikamaru Nara… This might be bit rude... but aren't you a bit young to be a teacher?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Young? Adults are adults; they stopped being young ages ago.

Far from being offended by Shikamaru's question, Iruka snorted in amusement. "That's no problem, Shikamaru. While I am a few years younger than my fellow instructors, I can assure you that I am a fully trained and qualified teacher. Are there any more questions?"

This time, Iruka pointed a finger at the very back of the class. It was Shino.

"My name is Shino Aburame. You said earlier that 'we were all here', but I do not see Sasuke Uchiha. Is he no longer part of this class?"

Iruka hesitated for a moment before answering, "It appears I may have misspoken, Shino. Sasuke Uchiha is definitely a part of this class. But due to… extenuating circumstances, he will be joining us a little later in the week."

Naruto huffed, why was it that a day couldn't go by without someone mentioning Sasuke, or the Uchiha? He wasn't even here, it was annoying damn it!

There were a few more questions, and it went on for a couple more minutes, before Iruka called it to a stop. "Okay, that's enough for now. We have to get on with the rest of morning." Iruka handed out a large stack of papers to someone in the first row. "Take one and pass on the rest."

It wasn't long before the papers were distributed among the class. Naruto took one look at his own paper and groaned; a groan that was echoed by a large portion of the class. It was a test.

The newly minted teacher put up his hands to placate his students. "Now, now, this is only the first day. I wouldn't give you a test on your very first day back. This is more of a review of last year. It won't take long, about half-an-hour, but it will allow me to see how much you understood from last year. Just write your name on the top, and start answering the questions after I say 'go'."

While reading the questions on the paper, Naruto scrunched his face up into a frown. Did they really learn this stuff last year? He wasn't sure. Naruto would have thought about this more, but he was interrupted by his new instructor ordering them to begin.

Naruto immediately picked up his pencil (he remembered to bring one, thankfully) and went to answer the first question.

This one was pretty easy. _'What Country does the Village of Konoha reside in?'_ Naruto scribbled in '_Fire Country'_, and continued to the next question. The second one was just as easy. _'What is needed to perform ninjutsu and genjutsu?'_ It was obviously chakra! Naruto scribbled in _'Catra'_. Unfortunately, the third question _'List the twelve basic hand seals'_ had him stumped. Naruto stared blankly at the question for a while, before jotting down the hand signs he could remember and moved on. But the next question was even more incomprehensible, and the one after that, and the one after that.

It went downhill from there. Naruto just couldn't remember ever learning the stuff Iruka claimed was taught last year. There were a few things he could answer, mostly stuff about the past Hokage, but other than that, he was clueless.

Mercifully, after half an hour had passed, Iruka called for everyone to stop. "Okay class, that's time. If you would pass the papers to the student in front of you, I can collect them all from the front row."

With little fanfare the papers were soon collected and in Iruka's hands. "It won't take me long to go through these," Said the young Instructor. "Before we break for lunch, I want to review something else you were taught last year, something a bit more practical; the basic rope-escape technique."

Naruto perked up, now this he could do.

One by one each member of the class was brought to the front of the room and bound with ropes. Iruka then used a stop-watch to time how long it took for each student to free themselves. Having a surname so late into the alphabet, Naruto had the luxury of watching his classmates perform the task from afar. Some escaped their bonds easily, others took much longer. Shikamaru took the longest; Iruka had to virtually threaten the boy before the lazy Nara plucked up the motivation to free himself. A few could not manage to escape the ropes at all, and Iruka pulled them aside and promised to review it with them at a later time.

At last, Naruto was called up. His new teacher quickly trussed him up the same way every other student had been bound. "Alright Uzumaki, when I say 'go' you do your level best to escape as fast as possible. Are you ready?"

As always, Naruto wasn't lacking for exuberance "Bring it on!"

"Go."

With practiced ease, Naruto undid the knots around his wrists and slipped the rest of his bonds. He was free mere moments after Iruka called for him to start. It was ridiculously easy, as Naruto had been tied up by several ninja before after being caught pulling pranks, and their knots were usually a lot more difficult to undo than the basic teaching ones.

Upon seeing the ropes fall away from him, Iruka glanced at his stopwatch, "That was… fast, Uzumaki. Not bad at all."

Naruto beamed at the praise, before bounding up the steps and sitting back into his seat. It wasn't long after that that Iruka allowed everyone to break for lunch.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki wasn't exactly the most popular person in the Academy, or the village for that matter. People tended to avoid him, and kids were warned to stay away, but not every child listened to their parents. Most of the time that was a bad thing, but just like in many other cases, Naruto was the exception to the rule.

Kiba Inuzuka was a member of a proud clan of shinobi; known for their tracking abilities and their ninja dogs, such as his puppy Akamaru, who was currently resting on his head. Like many members of his clan, he was a brash and rebellious braggart, so when members of his clan told him not to do something, he tended to do the opposite, just to see what would happen.

So when an older cousin of his told him to 'stay away from Naruto Uzumaki', he completely ignored his relative's warning and introduced himself to the blonde urchin on their very first day at the Academy together. Being the extroverted bundle of energy that he is; Naruto quickly made a friend out of the young Inuzuka, even if they do like to beat the tar out of each other for fun.

So it was with little preamble that Kiba approached Naruto at lunchtime. "Yo, Naruto! What've you been doin' since I saw you last?"

Naruto grinned and put an arm around Kiba's shoulders. "Hey Kiba! You know me, every day's an adventure." The young Uzumaki gave his friend a sidelong glance. "But where the heck have you been? I didn't see you at all last month."

Kiba scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah… sorry about that. My mom kept me busy teaching me clan stuff. You understand right?"

The smile never left Naruto's face, but Kiba could tell that he had said the wrong thing. "Nah, I get it. It's fine. So whady'a think of the new teacher, Iruka… something?"

"It's Iruka Umino, pay some attention next time." Came a lazy drawl from a few feet away. It was Shikamaru, who was calmly strolling towards the duo, his friend Chōji following close behind.

"Says the guy who falls asleep in class." Said Naruto, a good natured grin on his face, Kiba's unintentional slight forgotten.

"Like you haven't done it too." Replied Shikamaru.

Shikamaru Nara, unlike many other children of his generation was not warned off the young Uzumaki. His father, Shikaku, did not see the point of encouraging his son to alienate another member of the village. His mother, Yoshino, was a little bit more worried about her son associating with a known troublemaker, but she was not worried enough to contradict her husband either. So, without any reason to avoid his fellow Academy student, Shikamaru ended up speaking to Naruto one day at the academy, and quickly found a good friend and a kindred spirit when it came to slacking off.

Chōji Akimichi's father, Chōza was more vehement in his wariness of Naruto, privately worrying that he could become a danger to himself and the village in the future. But despite his father's cautions, Chōji, like in all things, followed Shikamaru's lead and befriended the young Uzumaki and he has never had cause to regret it.

Waving his hand to dismiss Shikamaru's reply, Naruto carried on. "Anyway, what'd you guys think of our new teacher?"

Kiba shrugged. "Eh, he's alright. It's too early to tell."

Shikamaru added his two cents. "He seems more alert than Instructor Daikoku though. Maybe it's just because it's the first day, but he took the time to learn all of our names. That's not something Daikoku did; outside of students with clan names it took him a week to learn everyone else's."

Chōji, munching on more potato snacks nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this Iruka guy seems okay."

Naruto tilted his head to one side, considering his friend's opinion. "Huh, you got a point. At least this guy talks; Daikoku just ignored people if he didn't like them."

The group of friends were silent for a second or two, before Kiba spoke up. "Ah, who cares about that? We got time before lunch ends, let's do something fun!"

"Like watching clouds go by?" said Shikamaru, his usual lackadaisical tone tinged with hope.

Suddenly, Naruto grinned. "Hey, I heard that Ami still thinks those flowers in the courtyard are poisonous… It would be a shame if she opened up her lunchbox and found a bunch of those flowers surrounding her food."

A feral smile adorned Kiba's face. "I never liked Ami, she called Akamaru a fleabag once, this'll teach her."

At seeing their enthusiasm, Shikamaru sighed. "I would say no, but you'll only drag me into this anyway, let's do it."

Chōji, on the other hand, looked horrified. "A-are you sure, we're talking about messing with someone's _food_. That isn't right."

Shikamaru gave Chōji a sideways glance. "Ami called you fat once."

"WHAT!" A fire burned in the Akimichi's eyes. "LET'S MAKE HER PAY!"

Laughing, Naruto raced off, his friends following him a moment later.

* * *

Sedately walking past the Academy courtyard, Hiruzen Sarutobi was congratulating himself on allocating some time in his day to stretch his legs. Despite several planning sessions, he was still a bit concerned about handing over the young Naruto's class to someone so recently qualified to be a teacher. But after using his Crystal Ball Jutsu to peak on the class, he was quite pleased with what he saw. Iruka managed the class well, and while it was still a bit early to tell, the Third Hokage felt confident that he had made the correct decision.

As he turned back to return to his office, he heard an ear-splitting scream from a distance away. Underneath a tree, a young girl with purple hair, Ami (if the Hokage remembered correctly) was throwing her lunchbox away from her, shrieking about poisonous flowers.

Narrowing his eyes, Hiruzen examined the flowers from afar and saw that they were common flowers that grew in multiple areas of the village, why did she think they were poisonous, and why were they in her lunchbox to begin with? After hearing the guffaws of several boys as the girl realised her mistake, the Hokage had his answer.

Watching Naruto and his friends run away from the young girl's righteous fury, the Hokage shook his head in amusement. He really should admonish the boys for their actions, or inform their teacher, but Hiruzen couldn't bring himself to do it.

Watching the young Naruto having fun with friends, even if it was at the good-natured expense of another, warmed the old man's heart. Resuming his stroll back to his office, a wan smile spread over the Hokage's face. Ah, to be young again.

* * *

After lunch, not much else occurred; as the first day back was less challenging than usual days at the Academy, simply to allow the students time to get back into the swing of things.

Iruka spent most of his time after lunch going through the test he had them all take, offering them all clear and concise answers to each question. Naruto had to admit, he had absolutely no clue how to answer those questions before Iruka gave them out. It was another point in his favour, Instructor Daikoku usually didn't explain the answers if you got them wrong, he only complained if you did.

Iruka also took them out to the range and evaluated their ability to throw shuriken. Which Naruto was abysmal at. Naruto could never understand it; no matter how hard he tried his shuriken always seemed to veer off target, never hitting it dead centre. This earned him derision from his classmates and some good natured ribbing from Kiba and his friends, but Naruto had long since learned to shrug such treatment off.

Either way, the first day at the Academy had just about come to an end. Iruka took a look at his watch and announced that the day was over.

"Okay class, that's it for today. For the most part, I'm quite pleased with what you know. Tomorrow onward we will be working on new things, expanding your knowledge and teaching you new skills. I hope you all make it home safely and that you will be just as enthusiastic as I am tomorrow morning."

And with that unspoken signal, everyone began packing up their things to leave. Almost nothing is faster than a group of children leaving a class, but to his credit Iruka snagged the fastest one of all before he left.

"Uzumaki, could you please stay a moment longer?" Iruka said, his tone implying that it was not a request.

Grumbling at being held back a few moments longer than his peers, Naruto turned around to face his new teacher. "Yes, teach'?"

Iruka gave his pupil a measuring look. "I wanted to talk to you about your test score… I won't sugar-coat it Uzumaki, it's pretty bad."

Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets, staring at his sandals. "Yeah, so?"

Iruka forged on. "Uzumaki, you got almost every question wrong. Those you got right were riddled with spelling mistakes. You called the first Hokage 'Hishirumi'. You spelt 'Chakra' wrong too… It looks pretty certain that you didn't pay much attention in class last year."

The young Uzumaki was not going to take that lying down; his new teacher already thought he was stupid! "Hey! I paid plenty of 'tension in class!"

The Instructor raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, maybe for the more physical lessons, if your rope-escape test time was anything to go by. But your shuriken test wasn't exactly stellar, Uzumaki. I'm concerned."

Naruto weakly tried to defend himself. "Yeah well… the lessons were boring, and they don't have anything to do with being a ninja…"

Iruka ran a hand through his hair, a sigh of exasperation escaping his lips. "Uzu… Naruto, listen to me."

Naruto looked up at his teacher with a start. This was the first time Iruka had addressed him with his first name, something he had been doing with everyone else in the class to begin with.

"Naruto… everything, absolutely everything taught in the Academy has a basis that can be applied as a shinobi. It's a bit difficult to explain, but everything you learn here will be important for a life as a ninja, and beyond that. As you get older and move up the years, new lessons will be taught, and their relevance to the ninja life will become more apparent." His instructor fixed his student with a stare. "But without the foundations taught in your first year, basic writing, reading, arithmetic… you would never be able to understand those lessons. Your lack of understanding of the first year theory would cripple your efforts to learn anything else. You would constantly be behind your fellow classmates."

Hidden by his pockets, Naruto clenched his hands into fists. "So, are you telling me to repeat a year?"

Iruka tilted his head to one side. "I never said anything like that. Repeating a year is the most extreme measure to take in this case. No… how about you spend an hour or so after class with me? I can help you review the work you _should_ have learned last year. With a little help from me it shouldn't take you too long to catch up with your peers."

Naruto bit his lip in thought. An extra hour in the Academy would suck; but he would have one-on-one help from his teacher. Naruto almost said yes on the spot, but… something held him back, some lingering resentment from when he thought Iruka believed he was dumb.

"Uh, can I have some time to think about it?" said Naruto, hedging his bets.

Iruka's expression was completely neutral for a moment, before he nodded. "I understand you want some time to think about it, Uzumaki. But don't wait too long, you need to start reviewing the first year material as soon as possible if you want to catch up to your fellow classmates."

Absently nodding at his teacher's words, Naruto strode out of the classroom, lost in thought.

* * *

After his first day back, Naruto, still dwelling on his teacher's words, went about the rest of the day rather sedately. He spent some time in the woods, practicing his shuriken throwing before heading back home to eat some instant ramen.

However, throughout the evening, for some reason he couldn't explain, Naruto had the irresistible urge to go to bed early. Deciding that he didn't feel like doing anything else today, the young Uzumaki decided to oblige this inexplicable desire, and it wasn't long before he was getting ready for bed.

Seconds after his head hit the pillow; Naruto fell into a deep slumber. He began to dream…

* * *

As always, Naruto was on the Hokage Mountain; but this time something was different. Normally he came back to the same place he left before he woke up, but this time he was on a wide ridge big enough to stand on. The enigmatic Stranger in red armour was waiting for him, leaning against the mountain rock.

The Stranger was direct in his questioning, his tone hard and professional. "Why did you not accept your Instructor's offer?"

Naruto crossed his arms defensively. "I don't like people thinking that I'm stupid. If I do what the Instructor asked then I'll be admitting to everyone that I think I'm dumb too."

The Stranger looked down on the ninja-in-training. "You are far too conscious about what people think about you. While being aware about what people think of you is a good thing, it is also unwise to dwell on it."

Naruto cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean, Geezer?"

A sigh emanated from the crimson helm. "I mean that if you spend your entire life hesitating to take action because you are scared people will disapprove, you will never succeed. If you are scared about what other people think of you, I suggest you quit trying to become Hokage."

The blonde ninja-in-training wasn't going to take that lying down. "What? Quit!? No way!"

The Stranger ignored the outburst, and continued speaking. "A leader should not be so easily swayed by what people think of him. A leader must forge their own path, even if the road they take leads to dissent from those that may follow them."

Naruto was confused. "So you shouldn't listen to people that follow you?"

The Stranger raised a metal hand to placate the young Uzumaki. "I never said that. A leader should not be swayed by public opinion, but that does not mean they shouldn't heed the opinions of their followers. Even the mightiest Hokage and Daimyo listen to good advice when they hear it." The stranger put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You are young, and not yet a leader of men. However, the only way to become one is if you accept the knowledge and wisdom of those who came before you."

Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "So are you telling me to accept Iruka's help?"

The Stranger nodded. "His teaching will definitely assist you on the path to becoming Hokage."

Still, Naruto was not fully convinced, his natural mistrust of adults (who are not the Hokage and the Ramen stand owner) shining through. "I don't know…"

The Stranger sighed once again. "That is… disappointing, Boy. I should have realised by now." His grip on Naruto's shoulder grew stronger, the clawed gauntlets exerting a near painful amount of pressure. "You require a more… dramatic example."

And with that, the Stranger picked up Naruto by the back of his jacket, and dangled him over the edge of the precipice.

"H-hey! What the heck do you think you're doing geezer!" Naruto shouted in panic.

"You seem reluctant to accept help, this is troubling. Since my words could not influence you, I'll allow my actions to speak for me. Start again." And with those words and a flick of his wrist, the Stranger hurled Naruto off of the Mountain.

Hurtling through the air, Naruto was consumed with fear. He tried to reach out for the Mountain face but he was too far away to grasp it. The only thing running through his mind was _"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" _this thought repeating in his mind like a hysteric mantra as he plunged toward the ground.

He fell further, and further until he crashed into the… soft pillow-like ground?

Realising that the fall didn't kill him, the young blonde gasped in relief. He was alive! But that relief soon turned to anger when he realised just what the stranger had done. Looking up the Mountain, Naruto could make out the crimson form of the Stranger above him. As soon as he spotted him, Naruto called out to the enigmatic man in fury. "HEY! You just tried to kill me!"

Despite how far away he was, Naruto could hear the Stranger's reply as if he was right next to him. "Of course not. I knew the fall wouldn't hurt you; otherwise I wouldn't have done it. I am not a fool, unlike you."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Naruto cried.

The Stranger's tone was sharp. "Being ignorant of the world is unfortunate. But when someone offers to remove that ignorance, to teach you the lessons you need to move up in the world, and then rejecting that offer? That is pure foolishness. Idiocy."

"I am not an idiot!" Cried Naruto, brimming with indignation.

"Then prove it! Prove me wrong, boy!"

With a cry, Naruto ran towards the base of the Mountain and began to climb… only to immediately slide away, as the entire rock face became as smooth as glass. Shaking his head in confusion, Naruto launched himself at the Mountain once more… only to slip away once again as his hands found no purchase on the Mountain rock.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Naruto roared; his tone one of confusion and anger.

The Stranger's rebuttal was sharp and to the point. "To climb the Mountain is to strive to become Hokage. But an uneducated fool could never become Hokage, so you could never scale this Mountain."

His fists shaking in indignant, impotent fury, Naruto shouted up towards the Stranger. "Yeah? Well I'll show you. I'll climb this Mountain, and then I'm gonna kick your ass!"

It wasn't long after that declaration that Naruto woke up; a fire burning in his eyes.

* * *

Watching as the dream faded away, Kurama returned to his natural form. His host would not forgive him easily for that little stunt, but seeing his terrified face as he was thrown of the Mountain was priceless!

In all seriousness, the boy needed a wakeup call. Being lackadaisical in his studies will negatively impact his ability to learn the shinobi arts in the future. Trying to reason with his host did not seem to work; the boy listened to his words, but he did not seriously try to understand them.

If discourse failed, then the only recourse is to antagonise the boy, challenge him. It worked before with the illusion of Sasuke Uchiha, so it should work now. However, there was one big difference, this time Kurama was using himself as the enemy. True, he was only using a mortal guise, but it would do no good for the boy to resent him unduly. With luck, the boy would understand his 'lesson' and apply himself to his studies. If he does not, then it will become nigh on impossible to teach him anything.

It was a risky gamble. However, the Kyūbi is confident that it would pay off. Reclining in his prison, Kurama settled down to watch his host's day unfold.

* * *

For Naruto, the second day at the Academy was much different from the first. Determined to show up that damn Geezer, he paid attention in all of his classes; hanging onto Instructor Iruka's every word.

After the day's classes were over, Naruto waited for everyone else to leave and approached his teacher. "Um, Instructor… about that extra lessons thing, is that still available?"

Iruka gave his student and appraising look, before a small smile tugged the edges of his lips. "Of course, Uzumaki; we can start today, if you want?"

Nodding vigorously, Naruto sat down in the first row as his teacher opened the first-year textbook in front of him. He would show that Geezer who was boss…

* * *

In the darkness of his prison, Kurama grinned, his eyes glittering with triumph. It was a gamble; but gods, or even the fragment of a god, always win when they play with dice.

* * *

**I have to apologise for the severe lateness of this chapter. A combination of writer's block, a sprained wrist and the death of a relative have served to push its release date further and further back from what was originally planned. **

**This is my establishing chapter for the 'Academy Arc'; the next chapter will feature Naruto's interactions with the rest of the class, and feature some actual teaching from Iruka. Just to mention it right now, I won't be covering every single year Naruto has in the Academy; that would get boring pretty quickly. After some more establishing scenes I will time-skip often until graduation. I just wanted to establish how the Academy in my story works (which I will go into detail in the next chapter) and Naruto's overall relationship with his peers. **

**In the anime, Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba are often seen hanging out with Naruto in flashbacks at the Academy; but this friendship is barely ever acknowledged in canon or in most fanfiction. In this chapter I wanted to draw attention to that friendship.**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, with luck the next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long.**


	6. Academy Days - Part 2

**I'm back! A big thank you to everyone who favourited, followed and Reviewed! You guys are awesome! [Edited 19/06/2016]**

**I don't own Naruto. If I did, I would be typing this story on a state-of-the-art gaming computer.**

* * *

It was an unspoken fact that in the Country of Fire the weather was almost always good. The summers were not too hot and the winters were not too cold. The flowers always bloomed in spring, and in autumn the leaves of Konoha's many trees turned a myriad of pleasant colours. It was under the shelter of these colourful autumn leaves that Naruto made his way into the Konoha Academy.

It had been a few days since his new resolution to learn all the theory he had missed and catch up with the class, and the difference was already becoming apparent. Naruto's new studious demeanour earned him a few odd looks from his classmates. Some of them were of the opinion that it was all an act; some preparation for some big prank. Others thought that perhaps Naruto had finally decided to grow up.

Of course, those who held that opinion were proven dead wrong after the young Uzumaki poured sand down Kiba's pants during a lunchtime break. This resulted in a good-natured brawl that almost brought down one of the oldest trees in the courtyard. It seemed that Naruto's new interest in study didn't last outside the classroom.

However, Naruto's new focus on studying was not the only talking point in the Academy. Today saw the return of Sasuke Uchiha to Academy classes; as well as to public life within the Village.

* * *

It had been some time since the Uchiha Massacre, and Sasuke Uchiha could no longer pretend that the world had stopped simply because he was grieving. For over a month he had shut himself up in an apartment that the Third Hokage had generously provided him.

Occasionally 'specialists' would enter his room and talk to him about the event. These people were always polite, always courteous, and endlessly patient with him. But the young Uchiha knew exactly who these 'specialists' were. They were interrogators, doctors, shrinks. They probably thought he had gone mad. That he needed to be handled like a glass figurine. Something that had to be kept safe and locked away from everyone, just in case someone careless broke him.

But they didn't understand. No one could possibly understand, he could not be broken. He could not fail. Not until he faced his brother. The words Itachi spoke to him still burned in his mind.

"_Grow powerful, brother. Train, train hard every day, seek teachings from every master; become as powerful as you can become. And, when you have reached the plateau of power I now stand on, we will face each other. Through the blood of battle, we will both teach each other everything we know, and when one of us falls, the other will become the pinnacle of humanity."_

Sasuke Uchiha had grieved long enough. He had training to do, and the Academy was the best place to start.

* * *

And so it came to pass that the last 'true' Uchiha sat separated from others in the second year Academy classroom, as their new instructor, Iruka Umino, was giving a lecture on Konoha's history. He had to admit, this new teacher was an improvement over Instructor Daikoku; less pompous and more physically capable. That still didn't help him turn a boring lecture into an interesting one however.

Still, despite his lack of interest, and the rather monotonous delivery of Iruka's lesson, Sasuke paid close attention. Any nugget of information, no matter how small or unimportant, may help him in his destined future. The day he duelled his brother…

The day he reached the pinnacle of humanity…

Sasuke was shaken out of his reverie by Iruka clapping his hands to get his student's attention. "Okay class, I get it. You think history is boring. I have four years to convince you otherwise, but for now line up. We're going to the exercise yard; I think it's time for our first live taijutsu practice."

With a groan from some students and a whoop of elation from others, the class quickly lined up, Sasuke near the end, and they all filed out of the room. However, before Sasuke could leave the room, Iruka grasped him by the shoulder. After turning his head to look his teacher in the eye, Iruka spoke.

"Sasuke, this is your first day back, so I won't mind if you want to sit this sparring session out." He held up a hand, stalling Sasuke's protests. "But, I think you probably want to blow off some steam, am I right?"

Giving his teacher a weary glance, Sasuke nodded his head. He did want to 'blow off steam', and knocking some heads together would be the perfect opportunity.

A look of understanding appeared in Iruka's eyes. "Believe it or not, I understand what you are going through, Sasuke. And if you ever need to talk, my door is always open. Now come on, your classmates will be wondering where we've gone." And with that, the tormented boy and his teacher walked out and towards the courtyard.

* * *

Naruto had been waiting for this all week. Sure, he had sworn to study and get smart, but it didn't excite him, it didn't get his blood boiling. But cracking some heads in a sparring match? That was something he could get behind. But unfortunately for the intrepid ninja-in-training, his surname was pretty low in the alphabet, and as students were traditionally paired in alphabetical order (at least at the beginning of the year), he was going to have to wait awhile.

With a sigh, Naruto laced his fingers together behind his head and relaxed. It was going to be a while before he was called up; at least he got the opportunity to watch his classmates' spar, which was always good fun.

First up was Shino Aburame and some kid whose name Naruto just couldn't recall. He had to admit, while he may be a bit creepy, Shino knew his stuff. The other kid didn't stand a chance; Shino took him out with moves that looked like they came straight out of the textbook.

Next up was Chōji, and some girl that Naruto was sure threw a juice carton at him once. While at first Chōji was uncomfortable about fighting a girl, he managed to knock her down with a palm thrust to the face. Noticing Chōji's uncomfortable expression, Instructor Iruka asked him to voice his worries.

"It just didn't feel right fighting a girl, teacher." Said Chōji; looking even more uncomfortable after being forced to admit it out loud.

But Iruka immediately dealt with the issue. "You're not alone with this problem, Chōji. A lot of boys, and girls, have problems fighting the opposite gender. But remember, if you become an active shinobi in the field, there will be times when your opponent is a girl. That's why boys and girls are often paired together in sparring. So if they ever face an enemy, they don't freeze up or hesitate even if they're a man or a woman."

Hearing his teacher's explanation, Chōji, and several other students, Naruto included, had pensive looks on their faces, processing what he had told them. Deciding to let what he had said sink in for a little while, Iruka waited a minute or two before calling up the next pair.

The next couple of matches were fairly standard. Only the raw basic Academy techniques had been learned so far, and so most of the matches just ended with the assigned combatants wrestling each other to the ground. There were a few exceptions however; Hinata Hyūga defeated her opponent quite handily, using a few techniques that were obviously not learned in the academy. True to character, she blushed and looked away after receiving praise for her quick takedown from Iruka. A few others stood out, such as Kiba Inuzuka who also showed off some moves not learned in the Academy, dealing with his opponent easily.

Another match that stood out for all the wrong reasons was Shikamaru's who evaded his opponent's grapples, dealt two strikes, the exact minimum requirement for student participation, and then promptly forfeited. Naruto could tell Iruka wanted to say something, but he held it in because Shikamaru did the bare minimum for the exercise, and so there was no real ground for punishment.

Finally, it was Naruto's turn. He would get to show off all his awesome moves! And to make things even better… his opponent was Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, step forward."

It wasn't long before the two academy students were squaring off against each other. Wisely, Iruka placed himself between the two. Obviously not trusting the two boys from fighting before he gave the command. He wasn't wrong.

"Okay boys, I want a nice clean match. This is your first sparring session of the year; let's make it a good one." After stepping out of the way, Iruka raised his hand, and then brought it back down. "Begin."

Hearing his teacher give the go signal, Naruto let out a grin in anticipation. This was going to be good; he was going to show that stuck-up know-it-all whose boss. He raised his hands in defence, and glanced over at his opponent. Their eyes locked for a moment-

-and then he found himself on the ground. Sasuke's fist inches away from his face.

"_What?"_

Naruto was stunned. He just couldn't understand what just happened, it all happened so fast. Already he could hear a few cheers erupting around them. From the corner of his eye, beyond Sasuke's fist he could see Iruka raising his hand to declare Sasuke the victor.

He couldn't let that happen. Not like this! But how could he fight back?

However, unbeknownst to the young Uzumaki, Naruto was not alone. From the very deepest corner of his mind a tiny, almost insignificant, spark of chakra flickered momentarily in his brain. Within that spark of spiritual energy contained a message from the great being residing in his belly. A thought that wormed its way into the front of Naruto's consciousness; a message consisting of only two words:

"_Grab him."_

And Naruto understood.

With a growl of anger, Naruto's hands shot up. One hand latching onto the wrist of Sasuke's outstretched fist, and the other grabbing a fistful of the Uchiha's shirt. Reacting with as much speed as he could muster, lest Sasuke counter him, Naruto wrenched Sasuke's fist to one side and pulled the Uchiha down as hard as he could by the shirt, simultaneously raising his head to meet his opponent.

The effect was spectacular. The Uzumaki's famously hard head crashed against the Uchiha's, the loud thud could be heard from across the field. Both boys were dazed for a moment, but Naruto was a lot more resilient than he seems, and he soon pushed the stunned Sasuke off of him, reversing their positions. Now it was Naruto on top of his opponent, one hand still gripping the Uchiha's shirt, the other poised to strike.

But Sasuke was no weakling, and recovered quickly. It wasn't long before he managed to avoid Naruto's punch and escape his grip, scrambling to his feet as he did so. Naruto also shot to his feet, preventing the other boy from kicking him while he was prone.

Unwilling to let Sasuke's speed pin him again, Naruto surged forward, grappling with the Uchiha. And despite Sasuke's best attempts, he wasn't able to break Naruto's grip. Seeing no other recourse, the Uchiha used his waning strength to push Naruto back a step, allowing him to bring his knee forward to strike his opponent in the abdomen. But the only reaction Naruto had to the vicious blow was to grit his teeth and tighten his grip.

* * *

As Iruka stared at his two grappling students, only one thought was going through his mind.

"_This is getting out of hand."_

The Academy Instructor had already allowed the fight to go on far longer than he should have as he realised both boys needed to let out some pent-up aggression. But if he waited any longer it could get ugly.

Raising his hand into the air, Iruka called time. "Stop! I declare this match a draw."

However, to the teacher's annoyance and concern, the boys did not release their hold of each other. "Naruto, Sasuke! The match has been decided. Stop now!"

Hearing their teacher raise his voice, both boys whipped their heads around in unison to stare at him. Seeing that Iruka wasn't in the mood for games, Naruto and Sasuke released their respective holds and stepped away from each other.

Iruka stepped in between the two boys, ensuring that they wouldn't resume fighting behind his back. He looked down at his students. "You both fought admirably. Sasuke, your speed and technique were impressive, especially for someone your age. Naruto, your method of escaping Sasuke's hold was unorthodox, but it got results, you also get points for tenacity."

Naruto was grinning from the praise, and even Sasuke looked a tad smug, but Iruka was having none of it. "However, you both lost your temper. If I hadn't stopped it when I did, that spar would have devolved into a brawl. That would have been bad enough, but you didn't even acknowledge my order to stop. I had to repeat myself. In the field, you should never give cause for a superior officer to repeat an order. So you both get minuses for misconduct."

It was almost amusing how both boys could pout so alike each other. After Iruka's assessment he gestured for both boys to get back into the crowd. He realised he didn't have much time left in the day so he was relieved that there were only two more sparring sessions left.

After Naruto and Sasuke's fight, the next spar was a little underwhelming, with some minor grappling before Iruka called time. However the final spar, Ino Yamanaka's, was quite entertaining.

She was facing a rather bland looking boy of civilian descent. The civilian student charged at the Yamanaka heir, ready to strike her in the face. But before the boy could land his punch, Ino cowered away in fear, her eyes beginning to tear up.

"Oh, please don't hurt me!"

The boy, not expecting the girl to break down in tears, broke off his attack immediately. He then foolishly moved closer in order to comfort her. He got a wicked sneer and a rather vicious kick to the groin for his trouble.

Watching the boy collapse to the ground in pain amidst the laughter of his fellow students; Iruka palmed his face. "Didn't I just finish explaining that one should not be fazed when facing someone of the opposite gender? Ino, you get points for deceiving your opponent, but never expect that trick to work again. I want to see you fight properly next time."

After that, the sparring sessions were over, and Iruka allowed them to break for lunch.

* * *

Still sniggering over what Ino did to her opponent, Naruto headed to a corner of the Academy courtyard, where Shikamaru and Chōji were sitting under a tree and unpacking their lunch. Shikamaru took half-hearted bites out of a sandwich while Chōji was acting like a human vacuum with his own massive lunchbox meal. Upon seeing Naruto, they gave him a friendly wave.

It was Shikamaru that spoke first. "Hey Naruto… I saw your fight with Sasuke-"

"Everyone did." Interrupted Chōji; in between chewing another mouthful of food.

"-what was that all about? He had you dead to rights and then you suddenly turned the tables on him. You were at it like cats and dogs. I know you never liked Sasuke that much but where did that come from?"

Naruto could only shrug in response. "I dunno. I just didn't want Sasuke to beat me, simple as that."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, obviously not completely buying Naruto's reasoning. But before he could say anything else, another voice could be heard coming towards them.

"That's right! The reason anyone wants to fight is because they wanna win." It was Kiba, who strode towards them with a cocky grin.

Naruto grinned back. "And if pounding Sasuke into the dirt is part of the deal then that makes it even better."

Kiba broke into his own lunch, passing some to Akamaru who was resting in his usual spot on the Inuzuka boy's head. "Yeah well," Kiba had to brush crumbs off his face from Akamaru's messy eating, "your fight with the Uchiha was cool and all, but one day I'll show everyone that I'm the top dog between me and him." The feral boy smirked. "And maybe I'll prove that I'm the top dog between me and _you_ as well."

The young Uzumaki could only chuckle. "Yeah right, dream on dog breath. There's only room for one guy at the top and it's going to be me!" The two boys glared at each other for a moment, before breaking out into even more laughter.

Shikamaru could only sigh and shake his head at the wild boys' antics. Chōji had long since gone back to his rapidly vanishing lunch, giving Shikamaru's half-eaten sandwich a lingering look while doing so.

Still chuckling, Naruto and Kiba sat down next to their friends and went about enjoying their lunch. Naruto pulled out a somewhat grubby looking rice-ball out of his pocket and began to munch on it. He really wished it was Ramen, but there was no way to prepare the instant stuff in the Academy, and Iruka had already expressed his displeasure with people who left the Academy grounds for lunch, so Ichiraku's wasn't an option either.

Still, he had food in his hand, and a friend on either side; life didn't get any better than this.

* * *

"Alright Naruto, today we are going to be reviewing first year geography."

Life didn't get any worse than this.

Not for the first time, Naruto wondered why the hell he agreed to these extra lessons in the first place. After hearing his teacher's pronouncement, the young Uzumaki allowed his head to hit the desk with a loud thump; alerting Iruka to his lack of interest.

Iruka gave a weary sigh. "Naruto, you agreed to these extra lessons, so why are you complaining now? You didn't seem mind them last week."

His head still resting on the desk, Naruto mumbled something just loud enough for Iruka to hear. "Geography is boring… why've I gotta learn it? What's the point?"

After hearing his wayward student's words, Iruka stroked his chin in thought. It had only been a short time since he had become Naruto's teacher, but he has already figured out that if you wanted Naruto to learn something, then you had to get him motivated; and the only way to motivate Naruto was to provide a practical application for what they were learning.

"Alright, here's why you have to learn geography. It's absolutely vital to becoming a good ninja."

After hearing that statement, Naruto's head shot up from the desk, pinning his teacher with a look of renewed interest. "How?"

Doing his best to restrain a smile, Iruka began to speak. "Imagine this scenario; it shouldn't be hard for you. You have just graduated from the Konoha Ninja Academy, becoming a fully-fledged Genin, ready to take on the world."

Naruto's eyes already began to take on a far-off, starry-eyed look.

"Now that you have become a shinobi, you have been personally summoned to the Hokage's office, where the Hokage himself gives you an important, top-secret mission to the… country of Tea."

A dopey smile appeared on Naruto's face.

Seeing his student's expression, Iruka flashed a knowing smile. Hook, line and sinker. "Now, how do you get to Tea country?"

Hearing his teacher's question, the lovely dream inside of Naruto's head burst like a bubble. "Huh?"

"How do you get to Tea country?"

The blond Uzumaki scratched his head. "Um…"

Iruka was relentless. "What direction do you have to travel from Konoha to get there? What's the climate like? Do you have to pack wet-weather gear or summer equipment? How long does it take to get there by foot? Can you even point to Tea country on a map?"

Naruto was at a complete loss. "I… can't."

Iruka crossed his arms, his point made. "And so it came to pass, that the great shinobi Naruto Uzumaki failed his top-secret mission to Tea country… because he didn't even know where it was on a map. Do you get it now?"

Not trusting himself to speak, Naruto could only nod, unable to look his teacher in the eye.

"Don't look so down, Naruto. Look at me." The boy did as he was told and saw the reassuring smile on Iruka's face. "You don't have to feel bad about this. You didn't know why it was so important to learn about geography before, but now you do; and I'm confident you'll pick it up quickly. That's what these lessons are for after all."

His confidence, restored, Naruto gave his teacher a resolute nod before picking up a pencil and preparing himself to take notes.

Now that Naruto was ready to learn, Iruka was ready to teach. "Well, let's start with the major countries surrounding the country of Fire. Wind country is primarily a desert country…"

* * *

"… and that just about covers the major countries outside of Fire country. Don't forget to review the map I gave you, it's very basic but it gives you a general idea of where each country is. Tomorrow we will be looking at your basic arithmetic skills and then we'll check your knowledge about the four Hokage."

Leaning back and stretching his arms in the air, Naruto stifled a yawn. "Phew, until next time teach'." Naruto had jumped out of his seat, and was ready to leave when Iruka called him back.

"Naruto, there was something else I would like to talk to you about before you go."

Biting back a groan of frustration (he wanted his Ramen damn it!), the young Uzumaki turned back towards his instructor. "What is it, teach'?"

"I want to know if there is a problem between you and Sasuke." Iruka's eyes expressed concern, which made it all the more difficult for Naruto to answer the question.

Naruto looked away, a childish pout on his lips. "Hmph, why've we gotta talk about _him_?"

Iruka restrained himself from rubbing his temples; he could tell immediately that this was a sore subject for the boy, and he didn't want him to think he was frustrated with him. The young Academy teacher crouched down at the knees, allowing him to meet Naruto at the eye level. "Naruto, this is important. I need to understand why you don't like Sasuke." Still seeing no change, Iruka tried a slightly different tactic. "If it makes you feel better I'm planning on asking Sasuke that very same question about you tomorrow."

The fact that it wouldn't only be Naruto getting the third degree seemed to do the trick. The blond Uzumaki began to speak. "It's just… Sasuke's always been this big shot. He gets everything right first time; he never seems to work hard at anything. I heard he got special training from his family, and I just thought it was so darn _unfair_."

As the Academy teacher let the boy unburden his feelings, Iruka's thoughts turned inward; remembering a young boy with a scar on his nose complaining about how it was so unfair that the kids from good clans were always better than those that weren't. Still, while Iruka could sympathise with Naruto's problems, he wasn't sure how to address them. Telling the boy straight out that life simply wasn't fair would just demoralise him, and Iruka suspected that Naruto knew that already. Similarly true, was the fact that the boy simply wasn't old enough to understand the concept of nepotism.

After a brief hesitation, Iruka responded to his student. "I… understand what you are talking about Naruto. It does feel unfair, but you should never let that fact depress you. It doesn't matter where we start in life, only where we end up."

Naruto cocked his head to one side in confusion, but didn't interrupt his teacher, seeing that as a good sign Iruka continued. "And what about Kiba, or Shikamaru? You're friends with them, but they almost certainly get help from their families, what makes you single Sasuke out?"

The blond scrunched his face up in thought, before answering. "I guess… Kiba can be an asshole, but he isn't an asshole _all_ the time. Shikamaru's just fun to hang around with, so's Chōji." Naruto shrugged. "They're my friends." _And Sasuke isn't_, was the unspoken line.

Iruka sort of understood now, Naruto couldn't actually explain his dislike of Sasuke. Some would chalk it up to childhood envy, but there was something else too. There was something fundamental that neither boy could probably grasp, and Iruka couldn't either. The boys were like oil and water and the Academy teacher doubted he could get them to become bosom buddies anytime soon.

Still, Iruka couldn't just let the two boys continue to fight each other. A bit of rivalry stirred good competition and growth; but Iruka could tell that a rivalry this heated would only lead to problems down the road. Maybe if he got them both to understand each other a little better…

A thought struck him, did Naruto even know?

"Naruto… do you know why Sasuke was absent the first week of the term?"

Naruto frowned for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "Nope, is it important?"

Iruka sighed, this wasn't good, but the boy should know. "Naruto… Sasuke's family, all of them… died about a month ago."

The sentence was left to hang in the air for a moment. Naruto just looked at him, dumbfounded. "What?"

"It's true Naruto. Sasuke lost his family very recently."

Naruto's expression was frozen in place. "How?"

Iruka winced. "I can't go into details; it's still rather classified. But most people know by now, and I felt that you should know too."

The young Uzumaki looked down at his feet. "I don't know what to think about this. I, uh, wanna think about this back home."

Before he could turn away, the scarred Chūnin gripped Naruto by the shoulder. "Naruto, I've said this before, but if you want to talk about _anything_ I'll listen, you know that right?"

Nodding absentmindedly, Naruto mumbled a goodbye and walked away, lost in thought.

Not for the first time, Iruka sighed, hoping that he had done the right thing.

* * *

Deciding to forego Ichiraku's just this once; Naruto was back in his apartment, staring at his instant Ramen, willing it to boil faster. Despite trying to put his mind off it, he was still thinking about what Instructor Umino had told him.

"_Sasuke lost his family very recently."_

The sentence tumbled through his head, even as he began to put the ready noodles into his mouth. Naruto chewed slowly, the Ramen tasted a bit bland today…

* * *

Unbeknownst to Naruto, something else, deep within his body, was pondering this new information.

Kurama sat on his hind legs, processing what he had just learned. While it took some concentration, the Kyūbi had managed to maintain a stable link with his host's mind. It hadn't been easy, the seal that bound him was powerful and complex, it allowed nothing but the thinnest of threads of his chakra through, but it was just enough to acquire information in real time.

It took a great amount of effort, but it was worth it, because now he knew that the Uchiha clan were _dead_. The Uchiha, arguably his greatest threat, was now a non-issue. Well, almost, the boy Sasuke could still grow up to be a problem, but that could be dealt with at a later time.

Lacing his claws together, Kurama considered how it would affect his plans. It was always a concern that the Uchiha would be able detect his impromptu connection to Naruto and warn others, or even worse, somehow influence him even while he was trapped within his host. Admittedly both possibilities were remote, requiring an Uchiha wit particularly powerful eyes, but it was a problem. Emphasis on _was_.

Still, the Kyūbi was a little annoyed that the weeks he spent mulling over how to deal with the Uchiha were wasted, but there is no point crying over it. They were dealt with and so he should be pleased.

He should be pleased… but he wasn't.

There were two big problems with the information presented to him tonight. The first problem; according to the boy's teacher, the Uchiha clan was decimated over a month ago. A month, arguably the most powerful clan in Konoha has been dead for over a month. It was almost certainly big news; everyone would have been talking about it. Everyone in Konoha probably had at least an inkling about what had happened. Everyone but the boy. Probably the biggest thing to happen in Konoha for years, **and the boy didn't know!**

How could he not know?! When he was not in his apartment or in the academy the boy went everywhere. There was barely a spot in Konoha that the boy hadn't walked, jumped, climbed or crawled into. Was the boy purposely kept in the dark? No… even if they were trying not to talk about it in front of the younger generation, someone would have let it slip. And while many found the boy annoying, they wouldn't just clam up because he was walking past.

That presented two options, either the Third Hokage purposely supressed the information, which led to people only talking about it among family and close friends. Or the boy was just that wilfully ignorant. Unfortunately, Kurama suspected the latter, the fall of the Uchiha clan couldn't be covered up for very long and trying to suppress it would only make things worse in the long term.

No, the boy just hadn't noticed. And why would he? His host probably rarely payed attention to many of the villagers. A lifetime of being ignored had led him to either ignore them or play tricks on them to gain their attention, but he rarely listened to what they had to say. Something would have to be done about that.

However, while the first problem could be corrected, the second problem was far more vexing. How did the Uchiha clan die? An entire family of powerful mortals don't just drop dead. Someone must have slain them. But who could have done it? A group of shinobi was most likely, but infiltrating the Village of Konoha would be an impressive undertaking, so perhaps a single ninja? It would have to be an exceptionally powerful one. Someone who could become a threat to his host as the plan moved forward. But who could have such power?

In the darkness, Kurama's crimson eyes narrowed. Or _what_?

* * *

Kiri, the Village Hidden in the Mist, was aptly named. Ensconced on its own island, the Village was always covered by a veil of mist and fog, obscuring it even from those who reside there. This home of shinobi; covered in the blood of its countrymen and shrouded in countless whispered secrets; where the light of the sun does not touch. This, was where a creature, who some would consider a man, called home.

Deep within the bowels of the Mizukage's tower, a man wearing an orange mask reclined in a comfortable chair. The room was plunged in darkness, and while there was one other occupant within the room, the masked man may as well have been alone.

The masked man ran a hand through his wild hair, while twirling a sealing scroll in the other. For several moments, not a sound could be heard, the masked man content to sit in the dark and the quiet.

But it would not last. A deep, manic voice emanated from the reclining figure. "So… what's your opinion on the current tariffs imposed on the Country of Birds?"

The other person in the room did not respond, and remained standing in the corner.

The masked man repeated his question, this time with a hint of amusement. "Now, now… no need to be shy. What's your opinion on the current tariffs imposed on the Country of Birds?"

No recognition, no response; nothing but steady, silent, breathing.

With a growl of annoyance, the masked figure shot up to his feet. No longer genial, but radiating fury, he stalked over to the listless man and grabbed him by the collar of his clothing, dragging him forward so his blank eyes would be face to face with the figure's single eye-hole.

"How dare you ignore me! Don't you know who I am!? I asked you a simple question." The masked man shook the blank-eyed individual like a rag doll. "Why aren't you answering me? Are you being rude? If you keep up this shameful display I'll punish you!"

The masked figure slammed his victim against a wall. "I'll burrow into your mind, rip into your consciousness and tear it to shreds! I'll turn you into my puppet, a marionette that only dances when I pull the strings! I'll…" A sudden realisation dawns upon the masked man, who cocked his head to one side. "…Oh, yes… I've already done that to you, haven't I, Yagura?"

There was no answer. The dead eyes of the Fourth Mizukage merely continued to stare blankly ahead.

Giggling, the masked man released his puppet, allowing the brainwashed Kage to collapse to the ground. Not bothering to spare his thrall another glance, the man in the orange mask twirled around and spoke aloud in a sing-song voice. "You can come out now, Kisame."

As soon as the words were spoken, Kisame Hoshigaki, the Monster of the Hidden Mist stepped out of the shadows. He was an imposing sight, with blue skin, a grin filled with teeth filed to points, and a giant sword wrapped in bandages slung across his back. But despite the powerful figure he presented, his tone was deferential to the masked figure he addressed. "You said you wanted to see me, Tobi, sir?"

The newly named Tobi spread out his arm in a grand gesture. "Why, yes I did my dear Kisame. I have but a single question for you." He leaned forward. "Did it work?"

Kisame's face split into a fierce grin. "Everything is in place; Zabuza will strike against the Mizukage tomorrow."

With that statement, a change came over Tobi. The childish amusement was gone, his posture straightened, his body tensed. The voice that emerged from behind the mask sounded deeper, and far more serious. "In your professional opinion, Kisame, what do you think Zabuza's chances are?"

The savage looking shinobi seemed surprised by the question for a moment, before he cupped his chin in thought. "Hmm, the odds aren't good. I don't doubt that he could get past the guards, whether by sneaking past them or by simply overpowering them. He ain't stupid either; he'll have some help, though they'll probably be for exfiltration purposes rather than an actual assault team. However," Kisame took a meaningful glance at the toppled form of Yagura, "when our illustrious Mizukage isn't drooling on the floor he is incredibly powerful when not under your direct control. I'd give Zabuza three to one odds against him." Kisame raised an eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest? I thought the plan was for Zabuza to fail."

Tobi waved off the question with a non-committal gesture. "The _optimum_ result would be brought about by Zabuza's failure. But even if he succeeded, events would still play out according to my predictions."

A cold look appeared on Kisame's face. "Civil war."

If he could see his face, Kisame would be sure Tobi was grinning. "_Yes_. The tensions have been threatening to boil over ever since the Kaguya clan's pathetic assault on the village over a year ago. This event would finally cause the scales to tip."

Kisame nodded, his eyes like flint. "Key figures for both sides have already been identified. It is very likely that Mei Terumī will take control of the 'rebel' faction; she has the influence and the power to do so. There are a few other names, but only she stands out."

"Excellent," said Tobi. "Young Mei will ensure that both sides are equal in terms of strength. I need this little war of ours to last as long as possible. Kiri must remain destabilised… at least until the game-board can be set up for the next campaign." He pointed at Kisame. "That's where you come in."

At the sight of the blue-skinned swordsman's raised eyebrow, Tobi elaborated. "A conflict on this scale will draw the attention of the Daimyo and his officials. They can't be allowed to interfere. Therefore, I want you to… deal with that problem, by any means necessary."

The grin returned to the swordsman's face. "Scare the officials away, easy enough. Bureaucrats can be surprisingly stubborn though, they'll follow regulations and orders to the letter, even in the face of violence. I'll probably have to kill a few before they get the message."

Tobi nodded. "That's almost certainly what you'll have to do. In fact, I'm counting on it."

Kisame looked askance at his leader. "You know that will definitely make me a rogue ninja, right? There's no way the Water Daimyo will overlook the death some of his ministers, even if he does back off from an investigation."

Tobi nodded once more. "As it should be. Your time as a ninja of the Hidden Mist is now at an end. You are needed… elsewhere."

"Akatsuki."

The single word hung in the air for a moment, before Tobi continued to speak. "Yes, Akatsuki. I've avoided making you an official member, as your position within Kiri gave us more options. However, now that our operations in the Country of Water are winding down, you can take a more… international role. Besides, I've recruited an excellent partner for you."

Kisame's head cocked to one side in interest. "Oh, and who is this 'partner'? Anyone I know?"

Tobi shrugged. "By reputation; his name is Itachi Uchiha."

The swordsman's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Uchiha? I thought the reports said that they were all killed off a month ago."

A dark chuckle emerged from the orange mask. "And who do you think did it?"

Kisame's look of surprise had yet to fade. "Itachi Uchiha did it? Impressive, he's only, what, sixteen? There were about eighty people in that clan, most of them trained shinobi. Hard to believe he took them all out on his own."

Tobi shrugged once more. "He's fifteen, actually, and very powerful. And as to being on his own, well… I might have provided some… backstage assistance. It doesn't matter now, they're dead." He pointed towards Kisame. "He's currently hiding out in the Country of Vegetables, I want you to rendezvous with him. He's been briefed on Akatsuki, and he's agreed to work for us. After you've gotten acquainted, meet up with the others and stand ready for your next assignment."

After receiving his orders, Kisame nodded and prepared to walk out of the room, but before he did, the swordsman gave in to his curiosity. "I've been meaning to ask, what's in the scroll?"

Tobi seemed surprised for a moment before glancing back down at his other hand. The sealing scroll was still clutched in it. "Huh, I had almost forgotten about this." The scroll vanishes into his sleeve. "It's nothing important. It's just a little… insurance."

Kisame shrugged. "If you say so." And with that, the Monster of the Hidden Mist strode out of the room, intent on following his orders.

With Kisame gone, the only occupants were once again only two people; Tobi and the mindless Mizukage. That single fact seemed to bring about a change in the masked man, his serious demeanour melting away, returning to the mischievous persona he used before.

With deliberate slowness, Tobi turned back towards the fallen Mizukage. With one hand, the masked madman dragged Yagura into a sitting position; the other hand went to his mask.

"Now then," said Tobi, his single visible eye seeming to glow in the absence of light. "We have to get you ready for your… big performance tomorrow… we've got to make it convincing… can't let that stupid piece of God interfering now, can we?"

It seemed that piece of Yagura was still alive somewhere in his mind, because upon hearing Tobi's words, his eyes shifted away to one side, breaking eye contact. Tobi slapped him. "Look at me." There was no response, so Tobi struck him again with a vicious backhand. "Look at me!"

What little control Yagura managed to regain was lost, and his blank-eyes once again fixed themselves upon Tobi's face.

"This is serious," said Tobi, his voice taking on a mock-professional tone. "Such a display of defiance obviously tells me that you need some… teaching… for tomorrow's big event. But that's alright… I'm happy to oblige."

Tobi's hand slowly gripped the edge of his mask. "Now… try not to blink," In one quick motion, he ripped his mask off.

And in that instant, if anyone was around to hear it, they would know that even a puppet could scream.

* * *

**It's done! It's finally done! It took me ages to finish this, and I'm so very, very sorry about that. There is no specific reason why it took so long, life just got in the way. However, there should never be a delay this long ever again.**

**I'm afraid that this chapter is a strange mixture of things. There's a bit of aftermath were Sasuke is concerned and Naruto gets some interactions with Iruka and his friends. The sparring sessions were added simply so Naruto and Sasuke could fight, and make this chapter little more interesting (it's not much of a fight, but hey, they're seven). I also wanted Naruto and Kurama to find out about the death of the Uchiha. I wanted Naruto's reaction to the event to be subdued and Kurama to be both triumphant and suspicious. I'll probably write a little more about Naruto's reaction in a future chapter, but I'm planning to veer away from the Sasuke angle soon, this story isn't about him.**

**I'm curious as to what people will think of the scene in the Hidden Mist Village. It's a bit of a jarring scene change, but I really wanted to write a little bit from Tobi's 'perspective'. I'm interested in what people think about him, or at least my portrayal of him. **

**Anyway, thank you very much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it.**


	7. Interlude - Monster

**Well… it's been a while. To start with, I would like to thank everyone who has favourited, followed and Reviewed this story. You guys are awesome. [Edited 19/06/2016]**

**I don't own Naruto. If I did, people would have probably never bought the manga in the first place.**

* * *

The Country of Forests was a rather unremarkable land. It was not the smallest country on the map, but it wasn't exactly large either, and it was definitely dwarfed by the major powers on the continent. As the name implied, its main export was lumber, but since virtually all of the countries that surround it have plenty of woodland of their own, the country was facing a bit of an economic problem. The fact that the main way to travel through the country was by raft didn't exactly endear it to travellers either, leading to a dearth in trade and tourism.

But the Forest Daimyo was a shrewd man, and several years ago ordered a small section of the forest to be cleared so a stone path could be built that allowed merchants to travel through the country with ease. The cleared lumber was sold at a low price that undercut the market, allowing the Country of Forests to outsell their competitors and make an actual profit, albeit a small one.

The plan was a success, the stone path allowed a greater quantity of trade, and for the first time in living memory, the Country's capital had actual tourists, which led to a boom in the popularity of exotic woodcarvings. The general mood of the populace improved, and the economy was healthier than it had been in decades; and for a moment it looked like the Country of Forests' problems were over.

However, that was not the case. After the novelty of easy access to the Forest Country's capital had worn off, many merchants quickly realised that the same stone path allowed them to pass _through_ the country entirely; leading to the boom in trade tapering off in favour of the more varied markets of neighbouring countries. The cheap lumber that was cleared for the path also ran out, causing Forest country to lose its ability to undercut the market with extra-cheap timber.

In the end, the Country of Forests had little to show for their efforts save a small increase in merchant traffic and a stone path that would be difficult and somewhat costly to maintain.

Now, why was this important? To be perfectly honest, it wasn't. Save for the fact that this stone path, built years ago and already showing signs of decay, had two of the most powerful shinobi in the world walking on its surface.

With calm measured steps, Itachi Uchiha strode forward with a single mindedness that would unnerve many who did not know the man either personally or by reputation. Ever since his massacre of the Uchiha clan over a year ago became commonly known within ninja society, his name had been spoken with respect by some, and fear by everyone else.

However, the man walking just a few steps behind the Uchiha was something else entirely. The only feelings this man invoked was hatred and terror. The terrible deeds this man had committed over his decades long career had ensured his position as one of the ninja world's bogeymen. His name was Orochimaru, and at this moment he desired only one thing. The Sharingan.

Unfortunately, for both men. Itachi Uchiha had the only known pair left in the world. This was a problem, one that would not be settled peacefully.

* * *

With his chakra enhanced senses, Orochimaru could sense the wildlife in the forest around him. He could hear the beat of birds' wings, he could hear rabbits and foxes making their way through the undergrowth of the forest, and if he concentrated hard enough, he could even hear the insects crawling around in the dirt.

This was but one tiny facet of what could be done with chakra; but to those who have never trained themselves in its use it would be considered a superhuman feat, something a mere mortal was never meant to accomplish. Orochimaru scoffed at such suggestions, there was nothing that could not or should not be accomplished, and there were no limits but the ones you set for yourself.

Orochimaru had dedicated his whole life to surpassing the limits of the human body. To becoming faster, stronger, more powerful, and most importantly of all, to surpass death itself, to break the limit of mortality and become an immortal being. To do this, he had studied the human body extensively, researched every field of the ninja arts, and gathered as much knowledge and spiritual lore as he could find.

However, it was not enough. No matter how many discoveries and breakthroughs he made, it was taking too long. Even with various methods developed to extend his own life, it could take centuries before he achieved all of his objectives. That was not counting those who would stand in his way and impede his progress, his old teammate Jiraiya being a prime example. Even his 'comrades' in the Akatsuki would become hindrances in the future.

He needed a game changer, something to close the gap towards his ambitions. And what could be better than the Sharingan? Eyes that allow someone to read chakra almost like a book, allowing the user to study and copy any jutsu that it could see; and if a fraction of what Orochimaru had learned was correct, then those impressive abilities only scratched the surface of what those eyes could achieve.

At this moment in time, there was only one person standing in his way. Itachi Uchiha, the boy who held quite possibly the last activated pair of eyes. Not for long, however.

The two men were still walking placidly, but there was a change in the air. The birds in the forest flew away, the woodland creatures burrowed into the undergrowth, and the insects ceased all movement.

The two shinobi continued their casual pace, not even twitching as the stone path beneath their feet began to crack underneath the pressure of their gathering power. Not even acknowledging the bark petrifying on nearby trees, as the snake sage's murderous intent drove away even the most basic of life away from him.

Finally, Itachi stopped. Still facing away from Orochimaru, he spoke. "You have been waiting for this moment for a long time."

Orochimaru smiled, baring his fanged teeth to the world. "Indeed I have. It took months to arrange this; a situation where we could be alone, where no one could interfere."

Itachi remained stationary, not even sparing his fellow Akatsuki member a glance. "No. You have been waiting much longer than that. Just how long have you coveted the Sharingan, Orochimaru?"

A kunai slipped out of the snake sage's sleeve, into his waiting hand. "My, my. Covet is such a strong word… if you must know I've studied the Sharingan many times; and while it is an incredibly remarkable sensory organ, it was not something to be obsessed over."

Itachi did turn to look at him now, a raised eyebrow betraying a faint interest. "Then why have you chosen this rash course of action?"

Orochimaru's smile remained fixed in place, but all around him, life died from his unbearable desire to kill. "Well, as you well know, the Sharingan has become quite the rarity. So rare, in fact, that I think it will be in my best interests if I… collect the last set for myself."

The Uchiha remained stock still, surrounded by the death that Orochimaru's own power had caused. Despite this, not even a twitch of worry or concern appeared on his face. His tone was the same even monotone as it was before. "You will fail."

"We'll see." And with that, Orochimaru _moved_. There was no afterimage, or gust of wind, the snake sage crossed the distance between himself and the Uchiha almost instantly. However, it was not enough.

An instant before Orochimaru brought down his kunai to strike, Itachi was simply no longer there; instead he was now standing just behind his assailant. The Uchiha's speed was such that less experienced ninja would have assumed he had used genjutsu instead.

Itachi's expression had still not changed, despite the ferocity of Orochimaru's attack. "You cannot harm me, Orochimaru."

Despite being so easily thwarted, Orochimaru's smile only grew wider, his eyes flicked over his shoulder to get a good view of the rogue prodigy. "Ah, the arrogance of youth. Always believing that they are immortal. Fear not boy, I will correct your world view today."

In that moment, dozens of snakes burst out of the ground beneath Itachi, wrapping themselves around him and sinking their venom laced fangs deep into his flesh. In a matter of seconds, Itachi had collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Everything was silent for a moment as Orochimaru straightened out and ran his eyes over the body collapsed at his feet. An ungainly snort escaped his lips. "Oh come now. Do you honestly expect me to fall for such a ruse, Itachi?" The snake sage spread out his arms and looked around himself in an exaggerated manner. "Come on out, wherever you are."

As soon as Orochimaru made his announcement, the body on the ground vanished in a pile of crows' feathers, and Itachi stepped out from the shadows of a nearby tree. "Your movements and techniques are documented record, Orochimaru. All members of Konoha's ANBU study you as required reading."

Orochimaru cocked his head to one side. "So you are saying that because you have read some outdated files on my abilities, you can defeat me? Foolish boy."

The snake sage smirked. He took a step toward his opponent, already forming hand seals…

…and within an instant, he was impaled by dozens upon dozens of iron spikes.

The look of confidence vanished, replaced by a gasp of anguish. Itachi stared on placidly as Orochimaru controlled his facial expression with a pained grimace. Despite the obvious pain he was in, a smile made its way back on the rouge ninja's face. "I wonder… how long have I been under a genjutsu?"

"The moment our eyes made contact." The Sharingan was activated, casting a soft glow within the shadows of the forest.

The shadows surrounding the two shinobi lengthened. The sun, shining brightly just minutes before, was blotted out by gathering clouds, clouds that quickly became blood red in colour. What little sky that could be seen past the clouds became black as night. The whole world had become a twisted caricature of itself, coloured only in black, red, and grey.

As the world morphed around them, Orochimaru could feel the multitude of iron spikes he was impaled with shift, twist and expand, rending his flesh further. Supressing the pain, the snake sage continued to stare at Itachi. Just like the world around them, Itachi had also changed, all colour had been leeched away, leaving only a black void with a grey outline. Only the Sharingan was visible, and the markings within those eyes had morphed into something akin to a three-pronged shuriken. As Orochimaru had predicted, it was the Mangekyō Sharingan.

With his opponent immobilised, Itachi strode forward, stepping closer to the snake sage. "This is Tsukuyomi. With the power of my new eyes, I can bend your perceptions of space and time to my will."

As if to prove his point, even more iron spikes materialized, skewering the rogue snake ninja to the point where one would scarcely be able to even see the human form underneath the hundreds of twisted metal shards. Even with his formidable mental fortitude, Orochimaru could not supress a scream of pain.

Itachi continued to stare placidly, as the veritable forest of twisted iron began to contract, crushing what remained of Orochimaru's shredded form. The metal continued to condense, until nothing was left of the snake sage…

…and then, in an instant, Orochimaru was whole again, impaled only by the original dozen iron spikes. Seeing the surprise on the snake sage's face, Itachi elaborated. "Within Tsukuyomi, time is under my control. For three days I shall destroy you again and again." Itachi's eyes locked with Orochimaru's and the rogue snake shinobi could almost feel the intensity hidden by the stoic man. "There is two days, twenty-three hours, and fifty-nine minutes left."

It was unknown what Itachi expected from making such an announcement. Perhaps he wanted to break down Orochimaru's spirit, demoralise him with the news of this near-eternity of torture. Perhaps he simply wanted to explain some of the mechanics behind the technique to someone Itachi knew would appreciate it in some way. It was possible he just did it for no reason whatsoever.

Whatever the reason, whatever his intent. The last thing Itachi could have expected the snake sage to do was throw back his head and laugh.

In the dark, silent world Itachi had created, Orochimaru's loud cackle was almost deafening. The exuberant laughter seemed to fill up the illusionary world, echoing around its creator. The almost manic tinge to the snake sage's hysterics caused Itachi to raise an eyebrow; had he broken Orochimaru's mind so easily?

Itachi's assumption was quickly disproven, when after another brief chuckle, Orochimaru spoke. "So this is the Mangekyō Sharingan! You must forgive my outburst, my laughter was the joy of a scientist learning that his research had led to a brilliant discovery."

Itachi's eyebrow remained raised. "Explain."

Orochimaru did not waste any time. "I have spent years studying the Sharingan, amongst other things, and for many of those years I was disappointed. The Sharingan could copy almost any jutsu by reading hand seals and the corresponding usage of chakra, it could also be used to follow complex muscle movement and it could even be used to hypnotise others via direct eye contact. At first, this all sounded marvellous, but something was missing…"

The snake sage looked directly into the Uchiha's eyes. Slowly, small trickles of a brown liquid began dribbling out of the wounds surrounding the multiple metal spikes still imbedded in his body. "The Sharingan is a truly remarkable organ, every documented paper on it will tell you so. However, despite this incredible tool within their grasp, the Uchiha clan were surprisingly short on skilled and powerful ninja, how could this be? The Sharingan should be able to make even a mediocre shinobi a terror on the battlefield."

The brown liquid began trickling out of Orochimaru's wounds at a faster pace, the snake sage's left eye also began leaking this fluid, soon followed by his right. "There are several different theories I have postulated over the years, but the one I am most partial to is that the Sharingan is either fundamentally flawed… or incomplete."

The brown liquid no longer trickled from the snake sage's injuries. It was quite literally pouring out of his wounds now, as well as his eyes, ears and the corners of his mouth. The liquid began to pool around Orochimaru's feet, where it began to congeal. Continuing as if he were unaware of this Orochimaru continued to speak. "And lo and behold, the most likely hypothesis was correct. The Sharingan had much more to offer, a… higher level. A new plane of possibilities to explore, one such possibility being this… your Tsukuyomi."

Suddenly, more spikes materialised, embedding themselves deep within Orochimaru's flesh. It seemed even the stoic Uchiha had limits to his patience. However, the brown liquid began flowing from these new wounds as well. Continuing to note the strange phenomena warily, Itachi spoke. "Cease stalling, Orochimaru. Whatever technique you are trying to employ will not work within Tsukuyomi."

Despite the obvious pain he was in, Orochimaru continued to smile. "Are you certain about that?" The brown liquid began to thicken, becoming more and more viscous until it began to ooze from his wounds. Despite this Orochimaru continued to speak as if he were giving a lecture. "Genjutsu are specifically designed to alter the flow of chakra within the brain. They can completely manipulate your senses, twist your perceptions of pain and pleasure, and can even take control of your body. However, altering the chakra flow within the mind is also a genjutu's greatest weakness. For such tampering, once discovered, can be relatively easy to undo with the proper application of chakra."

The viscous liquid continued to pool around Orochimaru's feet, where it began to not only congeal but build up, covering the snake sage up to his calves, where it hardened like mud on a hot summer's day. While this happened before Itachi's watchful gaze, Orochimaru continued his lecture. "And that is what makes this Tsukuyomi so dangerous. For try as I might, I cannot realign the chakra in my mind while within this illusion. I do not care what the so-called 'genjutsu masters' say, that is impossible. Any shinobi or kunoichi with the proper chakra control can fend off a genjutsu, no matter how potent. And so, with this knowledge, I can only come to one reasonable conclusion; you have not cast a genjutsu into my mind, you have brought me into yours." The snake sage glanced around the monochrome world for a moment before a wry smile appeared on his face. "This is not an illusion for my benefit. This is your view of the world. Pathetic."

The spikes began to twist and sank deeper into Orochimaru's flesh. They then widened in an attempt to stem the tide of the mysterious mud, but it continued to pour out of the snake sage's wounds unabated.

Itachi spoke, his voice remained even despite the snake sage's taunts. "Your powers of deduction are impressive, Orochimaru. To have grasped even a faint understanding of Tsukuyomi after so little time within it is a laudable feat. However, while we are indeed in 'my' world, it is not completely my own. Tsukuyomi is a mirror that reflects the spiritual world, and the darkness that resides within it, an ideal place for one such as you. This is where your mind shall reside forever after your three days within Tsukuyomi are over."

Orochimaru could not supress a snort. "I am unsure what I find more curious, that the Sharingan can peer into the spiritual world or that you blend so well into it. Still, we are straying from topic. Mirror into the spiritual world or not, this is still your mind. And while your control over this genjutsu is complete, you have made a fatal flaw."

The metal spikes began to glow red as they radiated heat, the oozing mud began to sizzle and spit as it continued to force its way out of the snake sage's wounds. Orochimaru groaned in discomfort, but that was his only visible reaction to Itachi's latest torment. "Hmph. This is exactly what I expect from an ANBU trained shinobi; so rigid and unoriginal. Variations of the same technique will remain ineffective no matter what you attempt."

Itachi said nothing, continuing to stare at the snake sage. His facial expression had changed, but it was not one of wariness as Orochimaru might suspect. No, Itachi's expression was of one who had just pinned a butterfly to a board, morbid curiosity.

The mud began to pour out of Orochimaru at an even faster pace. It piled itself around him, forming a cocoon up to the snake sage's waist, and the mud was still flowing. "You have brought my mind into yours, you have joined our consciousness together on the same plane." The snake sage's lecture was halted as he began to wretch and vomit more of the mysterious mud. "And that is your Tsukuyomi's flaw. While you can influence my mind, _I_ can influence _yours_."

And with that, Orochimaru burst. The snake sage's entire body split open, and gallons upon gallons of mud poured out from where he once stood. The strange oozing liquid formed a misshapen cocoon, which began to _pulse_. Each pulse caused the cocoon to shift and squirm, almost like it were alive. Even now, mud was still pouring out of the shifting mass in rivulets.

And through it all, no matter how horrifying the sight before him became, Itachi's expression did not change. The Uchiha continued to wait, and watch, the Sharingan continued to spin.

Suddenly, the pulsing stopped. The mud ceased to flow, and the writhing ended. What was once a misshapen cocoon was now simply a large pile of mud and filth, which then began to harden. A wet, pulpy sound could be heard emanating from within the mound, similar to the noise made when one tears wet cardboard apart.

The mound cracked, and fingers began to make their way through the mud-like material. A gap was formed, and serpentine yellow eyes could be seen from within the darkness. "It is truly amazing what can be done within the human mind. Techniques and rituals that could only be conceived and dreamed about, can become reality within mental illusions such as your Tsukuyomi."

A fissure had been formed, the cracks virtually bisecting the mound of mud and filth. Orochimaru then began to prise the mound apart. It creaked and groaned, but then, after a final shriek, the malformed cocoon broke apart, and the snake sage crawled out of the ruined mess; whole and unharmed.

The wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan did not react. Itachi witnessed the entire metamorphosis without batting an eyelash. The Sharingan, seemingly eternally activated, looked Orochimaru up and down, examining him, evaluating the event he had just witnessed. Finally, the Uchiha spoke just a few words:

"You are a monster."

His body still streaked with the mysterious mud, Orochimaru could only grin. "Considering that you exterminated virtually your entire family, I shall take your words as high praise indeed."

The dark world of Tsukuyomi was quiet for a moment, and not even the clouds drifted. It was as if everything was frozen in place, as if this fragile plane of existence was holding its breath waiting for what was going to happen next. There was no need to wait long.

Orochimaru charged, his hands morphing into scaled claws, his fangs elongating and dripping with unearthly venom. However, for all of Orochimaru's ferocity, Itachi would not be so easily undone.

With an unnaturally focused gaze, Itachi raised his hand to meet Orochimaru's charge and _pushed_…

* * *

…the world cracked and both shinobi were snapped back to reality.

Colour had returned, the wind was blowing, and all the sound of the forest had returned. Tsukuyomi had dissipated. However, while the world returned to its original normalcy, both the snake sage and the Uchiha had been changed.

Itachi was breathing heavily, his arm still outstretched and his palm wide open. Clutched tightly in his other hand was a tantō, which was covered in blood.

Orochimaru was just a few feet away, directly opposite his opponent. He too was breathing heavily, the self-assured smile was also gone, replaced with a grim expression. At the snake sage's feet was his own severed hand, removed in a single blow by Itachi at the same time the genjutsu was broken.

The snake sage stared at Itachi, hatred clearly visible behind those serpentine eyes. "It appears that I have lost."

The Uchiha took a slow, deep breath. "Yes."

A smile worked its way on to Orochimaru's face, but the amusement did not reach those hate filled eyes. "But can you finish the job, boy?"

There was a long pause as Itachi considered his own physical status. "…No."

The wind continued to blow, and the trees continued to move to its whims. The smile remained plastered on the snake sage's face, but the hatred remained in his eyes. "Well, I suppose that's that." Without further preamble, the serpentine ninja picked up his severed hand and began limping away. Without pausing to stop or turn his head, Orochimaru had one last thing to say. "Oh, and give my regards to the others. The leader especially, it was he who allowed us to switch partners for the day after all."

Itachi watched him go with a measured gaze. He did not lower his weapon until Orochimaru was out of sight. When at last the snake sage was gone beyond his enhanced vision, Itachi straightened out from his stance, wiped the blood clean from his tantō, and walked away in the opposite direction.

After this incident, Orochimaru would not be seen or heard from for many years.

* * *

Far away from the machinations of rouge ninja, Naruto dreamed.

Just like every other night for over a year, the young Uzumaki was climbing the Mountain, and always above him was his 'mentor', the enigmatic man in red armour, watching him from afar. One would think that by now the blond shinobi in training would have reached the summit after a full year of climbing. However, the Stranger in red, who was secretly the Nine Tailed Fox Kurama in disguise, always ensured that the challenge of the Mountain remained constant.

Even now, Naruto could hear him call down to him. "The path to power is a treacherous one. What will you do if there was an obstacle that cannot be defeated with brute force?"

Still clinging to the mountainside, Naruto spoke up. "You find a way around it!"

The figure in red armour hummed in approval. "An acceptable answer. Now, let's put that to the test, shall we?"

The Stranger stomped his foot, and suddenly Naruto could hear a rumbling coming from the Mountain. A feeling of dread came over him and he took the risk to look upwards at what could be causing that sound. Of course, when he did look up he wished he hadn't.

The Stranger had caused a rockslide, and a large chunk of the mountain face was heading straight towards the young Uzumaki. It didn't take long for Naruto to form a response. "Oh come on!"

Naruto hastily began to scrabble to one side, but there were no convenient handholds. With the oncoming slab of rock speeding straight towards him, the young ninja in training did the only thing he could do and leapt as far as he could to one side. Hoping that he would be able to find purchase somewhere else on the mountainside.

Thankfully, Naruto was able to escape the rockslide, which continued down the Mountain unabated. However, the young Uzumaki now had another problem, he was falling too, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't find a convenient handhold. Seeing no other choice, Naruto rammed his hand into the mountainside, using his meagre chakra-enhanced strength to dig his hands into the rock, _making_ a handhold for himself. The young Uzumaki couldn't hold back a grunt of pain as the outer layer of skin on his palms was shredded by the impact.

The end result was that while Naruto had slipped down the Mountain a bit, he hadn't been crushed into paste by a rockslide either. Furiously he looked upwards towards the Stranger, who was laughing uproariously. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

After taking a moment to allow his laughter to die down, the Stranger spoke. "I was merely putting this new lesson into practice. I must say you performed admirably."

Naruto was not amused. "Oh that's it! I'm really kicking your ass now."

The young Uzumaki resumed his climb upwards at a faster pace, intent on venting his anger at the mysterious mentor. Naruto's anger restored his flagging strength, and it was not long before the young Uzumaki reached his destination, the small plateau that the Stranger was standing on.

Panting from the sustained effort of climbing so far so quickly, Naruto hoisted himself up onto the plateau and squared off against the Stranger. However, before the young Uzumaki could throw the first punch, the armoured figure raised a finger in warning. "Ah, ah, ah. Do you remember the last time you tried to strike me?"

Naruto, fist still cocked backwards, paused, and after a second of remembrance he grimaced. The first time he tried to hit the Stranger was about a year ago after the asshole threw him off the Mountain. It turns out that trying to hit someone in plate armour with your bare hands was a painful experience.

Sighing, Naruto straightened out and slumped to the ground, his legs hanging over the edge of the plateau. At seeing such actions from his unwitting host, Kurama cocked his head to one side in a quizzical manner. "Are you really that upset? Yes, I put you in a dangerous situation, but your life was never in real danger. If you had failed the test then I would have intervened. As it was you performed admirably; the you from one year ago would not have possessed the mental fortitude to take such drastic action to overcome an impossible obstacle."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion and Kurama inwardly sighed; sometimes he forgets that he's talking to an eight year old. "You wouldn't have had the guts to make that jump last year. A year ago you would have tried to do something stupid like stop that rockslide with your bare hands."

The young Uzumaki considered his 'mentor's' words for a few moments before shrugging. "Yeah, you're probably right." Then he sighed again. "But that's not why I'm 'upset'." Naruto said the last word with finger quotes.

"Then why?"

Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "Well… before you came along I had normal dreams. I dreamt about being Hokage, I dreamt about having a big family… and I dreamt about Ramen!"

Kurama cocked his armoured head to one side. "You still dream about those things, often at the Academy when you're _supposed_ to be learning." There was a hint of rebuke in Kurama's tone, but there was no malice in it either. Indeed, Kurama suspected that Naruto intentionally allowed his grades to slip every now and again in order to continue having his extra hours study sessions with Iruka. He let it slide because Naruto seemed to learn better from the one-on-teaching that Iruka offered. And to think he once complained about them…

Unaware of the Tailed Beast's musings, Naruto made a dismissive wave. "It's not _that_. I mean actual go to sleep and imagine dreams. Now whenever I go to sleep I end up climbing this stupid mountain while having _rocks_ chucked at me!"

It was Kurama's time to sigh. "You want to dream about ramen? Well here you go." With a snap of his fingers a bowl of steaming hot ramen suddenly appeared next to Naruto's reclining form. Its sudden appearance almost caused Naruto to fall off the plateau, and the Mountain, in surprise, but his 'mentor' grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him steady.

After that near disastrous event, Naruto got over his shock, somewhat. "H-how did you do that? How did you make Ramen appear out of nowhere like that?"

Naruto didn't need to see behind the helmet to know that the Stranger had a dumbfounded expression on his face. "This is a _dream_, boy. If you wanted ramen, all you had to do was think about it."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?!" said Naruto, outrage clear in his voice, obviously thinking about all the Ramen he had missed out on.

Kurama put his palms over his helmet. "I did not think it had to be explained. I just assumed you were being diligent during our time together."

The young Uzumaki rested his head on his chin in thought. "Yeah, well, I didn't know. You'd be darn sure I'd have taken a break once or twice to have some Ramen if I knew." Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened as an idea struck him. Scrabbling to his feet, Naruto began looking at the top of the Mountain, where the statue of the Hokages were just about visible, his face was a picture of concentration.

Divining his intent, Kurama sighed. "_No_ you can't just think yourself on top of the mountain."

His gaze of the Mountain summit broken, Naruto whirled around to give his 'mentor' a glare. "Why the heck not?"

"Because," said Kurama obviously trying to maintain his composure, "it would defeat the purpose of every lesson I have attempted to teach you here. If the goal could be so easily accomplished it would become meaningless. The path to becoming Hokage cannot be achieved by just _thinking_ about it. You must show diligence, ambition, courage, wisdom, and yes even a bit of patience." Suddenly, he sighed and put a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You will reach the summit, one day. But only when you have proven yourself ready, not before."

Naruto was still for a moment as he absorbed what the Stranger had told him, then a grin began to spread over his face. "Fine! I'll show you who's ready!" The young Uzumaki prepared to resume climbing… and crouched down to pick up the bowl of ramen. "Just as soon as I've had this Ramen."

* * *

Kurama watched his host resume his climb with interest. The Kyūbi was at first uncertain that this plan would work, he had never before attempted to teach a mortal being before, and he was doubly uncertain that the boy would gain anything from his teaching. Thankfully, over the last year the boy had proved himself to be an avid pupil, despite his immaturities.

That was not to say that there had not been any roadblocks along the way. Kurama's understanding of mortal customs had been tested often, and he had been forced to revise his plans more than once to accommodate human behaviours he had not expected. There were also outside factors he had not counted on; such as the massacre of the Uchiha clan.

Still, things had been going well so far. The boy had been going from strength to strength, both from his efforts and from the teachings of the boy's Academy instructor, Iruka Umino. However, recently something else had taken up his attention.

When he was sealed away, Kurama lost much of his power, indeed he was so drained it took over six years to regain consciousness. Since then however, he had worked hard to restore the power that he had lost, but therein lay the problem.

No matter how hard Kurama concentrated, no matter how deep his meditations became or what arcane practice he employed, he could no longer restore his chakra like he once could. This was incredibly alarming, and could quite possibly ruin his plans for the future. Even now, as Kurama was pondering this problem, he could feel his chakra ever so slowly gather itself. Of course, his power was still great, even in his current state, he could easily shatter mountains or summon maelstroms, but for his future plans it was not enough. It was almost as if he were at… half strength.

And just like that, it all made sense.

How could he have not noticed this before? He should have realised what had happened to him from the beginning. This seal was very unlike the ones that had bound him previously, the Shinigami was involved in its construction. The personification of death would not be something so easily summoned, a price would have to be paid, and a single human soul would almost certainly not be enough. No, not only did the Shinigami aid in his sealing, it also took a part of him away. Half of his being.

If this revelation was not so damaging, Kurama would have laughed. He, a Fragment of a God, had been fragmented once again. Suddenly a thought occurred, and he cupped his chin in thought. While this could be a setback for the future, the Shinigami's involvement could provide an interesting opportunity…

A small rock bounces off of Kurama's helmet and he looks up. It seems the boy almost slipped again. "I won't catch you again you know." Said the Kyūbi, maintaining his charade as the Stranger in red armour.

"Hah! Like you ever needed to catch me!" said Naruto, who was continuing his climb without missing a beat.

Kurama snorted in amusement. Future opportunities could wait for now, he had a street rat to train. Perhaps he could suggest that the boy find someone to give him mountaineering lessons, he was tired of having to constantly catch the boy.

* * *

**This… this chapter was horrible to write. The entire Itachi vs Orochimaru sequence took about five months to piece together, and I'm still not totally happy with it. I'm terribly sorry that you had to wait so long for this chapter.**

**One of the reasons I started writing this fanfiction in the first place is because I wanted to have a go writing Orochimaru. In my opinion he was a brilliant villain, but he was far too often considered a joke in a lot of fanfiction I've read. In my story expect Orochimaru, and all of the other villains in Naruto, to become a lot more dangerous.**

**Two events I wanted to have a go writing was the Uchiha Massacre and the fight between Orochimaru and Itachi. I felt that while it showed off how powerful Itachi is, it essentially ruined Orochimaru's credibility as a powerful threat. In my version of the fight I wanted to make things more even between them, I hope I managed to pull that off.**

**The next chapter, with luck, will be the last one in the Academy. After that the plot can actually move forward.**

**Oh, and one last thing. I received a lot of Reviews about Tobi last chapter. A lot of them were about how they didn't think 'Obito' would act that way. I just want to pose this question to everyone thinking the same thing; when did I ever call Tobi 'Obito'?**

**Anyway, thank you very much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it.**


	8. Academy Days - Part 3

**For a thousand years (just one, actually) I've slumbered. But now, I have returned!**

**A big thank you to everyone who favourited, followed and Reviewed this story! You are all my heroes.**

**I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be living off of crackers and water.**

* * *

The village of Konoha has had its fair share of triumphs and tragedies over the years, on every street corner; there was a tale to be told, either happy or sad. However, every person who lived there, shinobi or otherwise, would tell you that the good always outweighed the bad. That is the case for Iruka Umino, who had spent the last several years of his life teaching the next generation of ninja; it had so far been a rewarding experience.

Even now, as he surveyed the classroom filled with students he had been teaching for over four years now, he couldn't help but smile as he addressed them. "Okay class, it's your favourite time of the day. It's time to review ninjutsu."

The excited murmur that began to spread through the classroom was all Iruka needed to hear.

"Now now, settle down. We still have a lot to cover today, as always, so let's get started quickly. Can anyone tell me the basic three ninjutsu?"

A forest of hands rose up. He noticed with fondness that Naruto was straining to make his hand higher than the others, but he also noticed that there was one or two who hadn't bothered to raise theirs. "Shikamaru, do you not know what they are, or shall I just write you in for detention for lack of participation? How about you Ami? Perhaps you were looking for the answer in that compact mirror of yours?"

Upon hearing his name, Shikamaru sighed loudly and limply raised his arm. Similarly, when Ami's name was called out she squeaked in surprise before putting away her mirror and raising her hand. There were a few who laughed at their classmates' antics, but a swift glare from Iruka stifled them. Seeing that the whole class was silent and that they all had their hands raised, he resumed the lesson.

"It seems everyone knows, by this point I would be worried if you didn't. But just to be sure… Sakura, could you tell us?"

Sat in the front row, Sakura Haruno beamed at being her teacher's pick. She lowered her hand and responded primly. "The three basic ninjutsu are the transformation jutsu, the replacement jutsu, and the clone jutsu."

Iruka nodded. "Excellent. Over the week we shall go over all three at least once, but today I'm going to test you on the transformation jutsu. Please form an orderly que in front of me."

Many of the students scrambled out of their seats, eager to be the first one in line. However, there were a few others who were a lot slower to form up. Either because they hadn't practiced as often as they should have and knew their technique would be bad, or, like Shikamaru, they just didn't care.

The two boys at the very front didn't pay any attention to the people who were dragging behind them though; they were too busy trying to beat the other. As soon as Iruka had given the order, Naruto and Sasuke shot out of their seats, determined to be the very first in line. Over the years, the two Academy students had developed a fierce, though mostly good-natured, rivalry. It didn't matter what the task was, if it could be conceived as competitive then they would fight over who was better at it. More often than not, they would be split down the middle, with Naruto winning in most physical challenges, and Sasuke dominating in the theoretical subjects (except for geography, in which Naruto had a surprising interest in).

Sasuke was always the faster of the two, and smirked as he pushed ahead of Naruto, who had crashed into Kiba, much to the other boy's chagrin. It seemed he would win this round. However, just as he was about to make it to Iruka, he felt a weight on his head, causing him to stumble backwards. Then his vision was filled with orange.

Iruka looked on in disbelief, as he saw his favourite student leap from Kiba's prone form on the stairs and literally use Sasuke's head as a vaulting platform. A voice in his head told him that he should punish the boys for barging forward, but seeing Naruto grasp Sasuke's hair and push himself off of it rendered him speechless, but only for a moment.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing? You can't use other students as jumping aides! Apologise to Sasuke, and don't forget to see me for detention after class."

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before turning to face Sasuke, who had collapsed on the floor. "Sorry Sasuke, I win."

Iruka smacked him over the head. "A more sincere apology would have been nicer."

Sasuke grumbled, ignoring the antics of his teacher and his rival. He ran a hand through his hair. "Whatever, I'll get you back for this." Suddenly he felt arms being wrapped around his shoulders, before he was pulled into a light embrace. The Uchiha turned to see who it was, but he really didn't need to. "Sakura, what are you doing?"

Sakura gave Sasuke a sly smile. "I couldn't just let a fellow student be injured without offering comfort and support, could I?"

The Uchiha merely rolled his eyes.

Naruto turned back to face his teacher, pointing at Sasuke as he did so. "See? He's fine; he's even got Sakura draped over him, what more could he want?"

Iruka gave the two students on the ground an unamused look, before noticing Ino and Ami going red in the face at seeing their 'rival in love' scoring points. He put a hand over his eyes. "Give me strength."

Thankfully for Iruka's temper, order was regained quickly, and the class could resume. Iruka had considered sending Naruto to the back of the line, but ultimately decided against it. Initiative should never be discouraged, even if it was misguided at times. He indicated to Naruto. "Alright, Naruto, since you're first in line you get to start. Let's see how well you do. Transform into me."

Offering Iruka a grin, Naruto placed his hands together into the appropriate hand seal and focussed his chakra. His face scrunched up in concentration, Naruto called out his jutsu. "Transform!"

There was a large plume of smoke, and when it cleared, Iruka was faced with his exact double, well, almost. The Academy instructor tilted his head to one side, and then the other. "Well done, Naruto, very well done. There are only a few criticisms I could make."

Naruto smiled, pleased at his teacher's praise. "What are they?" He said in Iruka's voice.

"Good voice change. Anyway, number one, you produce far too much smoke; anyone with a brain would know that there was a ninja using the transformation jutsu in the area. I know it's hard, but try to put less chakra into it. And number two…" Iruka pinched his almost double's cheek. "Your whiskers are still visible! Concentrate on your cheeks when you transform next time."

Naruto groaned as the class laughed at his mistake. For some reason it was always hard to disguise his birthmarks, he had no idea why. Thankfully, he had another year of practice before graduation.

At Iruka's behest, Naruto stepped to one side, allowing the next person in the line, Sasuke, to take his turn at the test. Iruka spoke. "Okay Sasuke, you heard what I said to Naruto, transform in to me."

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto as he put his hands together; he smirked as he called out the jutsu's name. "Transformation!"

There was a light puff of smoke, and when that quickly dissipated Sasuke was revealed to have changed into a perfect copy of Iruka. Their teacher gave him a good look over, before declaring Sasuke's transformation as perfect.

A small smile fixed on his face, the Uchiha deactivated the technique before walking over to stand by his rival. As they watched as the third in line, Sakura, performed the test, Sasuke leaned over to speak in the Uzumaki's ear. "It looks like I won after all."

Naruto snorted. "Ah, get lost Sasuke. I'll beat you for sure next time."

Sasuke grunted in kind. "Whatever."

The rest of the lesson went rather well. A few others in the class also performed their transformations perfectly, such as Sakura, and surprisingly Shikamaru, but most had some error or another. Such as Kiba whose impression of Iruka had elongated fangs (which Naruto thought looked kind of cool), or Ino, whose version of Iruka lacked the distinctive scarring on the nose. When questioned on this, she stated that his scar would have looked 'icky' on her, and so she did away with it. Unimpressed by this, Iruka gave her a detention.

Eventually, everyone had performed the test and Iruka had given everyone individual pointers on what to work on. The students had all gone back to their seats, and their teacher was ready to broach the next topic of study, when there was a knock on the door.

Iruka's brows furrowed in confusion, he wasn't expecting anyone. He called out to the person behind the door. "Come in."

The door slid open, and a man with white hair poked his head through the door. It was Instructor Mizuki, a man of Iruka's age who had joined the Academy as an instructor last year. "Iruka, there's something important we need to discuss. Can we talk outside?"

Iruka frowned, but nodded his head in acknowledgement. "That's no problem, Mizuki." He turned to the class. "Class, turn your textbooks to page ninety-four. We'll be looking at the Second Hokage's theory on kunai trajectories, read up on the subject and I'll tell you just why this is important as soon as I come back."

A few members of the class groaned. The Second Hokage had some really boring ideas on almost every subject. Hopefully Iruka would be able to make it interesting, but they weren't holding their breath.

Not wanting to leave his class alone for long, Iruka rushed out the door to face his fellow instructor and friend. "Mizuki, what's wrong? What was so important that it couldn't wait until lunch?"

Mizuki played with a strand of his hair nervously. "There's a problem for your class tomorrow. The kunoichi instructor, Suzume, has taken a leave of absence for a few days; apparently her father is ill. When I heard about it I rushed over to your class; I thought you should know so we could arrange a replacement quickly."

Iruka's eyes widened in alarm, he could teach almost any subject the Academy required, save one. Every kunoichi received specialist training in infiltration, ranging from simple things like flower arranging to full on song and dance routines. Iruka could teach the basics of infiltration, but the in-depth kunoichi class was beyond him.

"We need to find a replacement, fast. How about Kurenai Yūhi? I hear she returned from a mission recently, she has the training."

Mizuki looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I actually asked about Kurenai already, apparently she returned from her mission injured, and will be spending tomorrow recovering. There is one other person who's free, but I don't know if you would like it."

Iruka cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Why would I not like it? I'll accept anyone at this point; the student's education can't be delayed."

Mizuki sighed. "Okay, okay. The only person I know who's qualified and free tomorrow is Anko Mitarashi."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Anko? I know the name, send a message to her. Promise her teacher's rates for the day, I don't know anyone who could resist that."

It was Mizuki's turn to look surprised. "You're okay with it? I thought you'd be more wary about her… reputation."

Iruka shrugged. "I've learnt that reputation isn't everything. Besides, we don't really have much of a choice, do we? Anyway, could you possibly set up a meeting between me and her after the Academy hours? I'll discuss the curriculum with her for tomorrow."

At hearing Iruka's reasoning, Mizuki nodded. "Fair enough, I'll send a message through the Hokage's office, that'll guarantee she gets it,"

Iruka smiled. "Thanks Mizuki, we still on for drinks this weekend?"

Mizuki grinned as he walked off. "You can count on it."

With that deed done, Iruka returned to his class to see that his students had continued to read the textbooks diligently. He was so pleasantly surprised that he decided to ignore the fact that Kiba and Naruto both looked like they got into a fight rather recently. He clapped his hands together, startling a few who hadn't noticed his return. "Alright class, let's go over what you've read. I hope you have read it because I _will_ be asking questions. Anyway, the Second Hokage's reasoning was multifaceted…"

* * *

The lesson was over, and it was time for lunch, something that Naruto had been waiting for. Despite Iruka's best efforts, there was no way he could make anything the Second Hokage wrote interesting. The man was the freaking Hokage, how could he be so boring? Why couldn't he have written about something cool, like teleportation, or reviving the dead?

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Naruto turned to his friends. Over the years, the group had grown a bit to include Shino Aburame and (very, very occasionally) Sasuke. As it was, the group of boys had gathered in their usual spot beneath a big tree in the courtyard. Shikamaru had already gone to sleep in the shade, and Chōji who was sat next to him, was virtually inhaling the contents of a massive lunch box. Shino was stood to one side, looking almost as still as the tree he was standing next to. Sasuke had decided to 'grace' them with his presence today, and was sitting in a low hanging tree branch. And then there was Kiba, who seemed eager to resume what they had started in class before Iruka showed back up.

The Inuzuka boy roared. "Naruto, you'll pay for running into me!"

Naruto grinned as he put his fists up. "Come on then, dog boy!"

Kiba charged into the Uzumaki. There was no adherence to any fighting style, and it wasn't long before the two boys were grappling on the ground. Naruto seemed to be having the better of it, but then Akamaru leapt off of his perch on Kiba's head and began biting into one of his ears.

"Ah! Get it off me!" Cried Naruto. He tried to swat the puppy away, but Kiba kept him restrained.

Kiba was jubilant. "Hah! Good job buddy, chew his ear off! That'll teach him to mess with me."

Growling in response, Naruto kicked his legs out, disturbing Kiba's grip, which allowed him to push Akamaru away and give Kiba a head-butt. As the Inuzuka boy grasped his nose in pain, Akamaru began biting into Naruto's hand causing him to yelp.

Opening one eye, Shikamaru sighed. "Can you two keep it down? I'm trying to have a nap here."

Chōji nodded vigorously. "Yeah, watching you guys beat the snot out of each other is fun and all, but hearing you scream is putting me off my meal."

Seeing that their fight wasn't getting them anywhere, both boys broke away from each other. Akamaru felt the need to keep his teeth in the Uzumaki's hand for a moment or two longer, however, just to prove that it was _he_ who had won the fight. After finally shaking the puppy off, Naruto turned towards Shino, who had been silent the whole time.

"What's up Shino?"

The Aburame heir turned his head to stare at his friend. He pointed upwards, and answered succinctly. "Sasuke is 'up'. As for my wellbeing, I am fine. Thank you for asking."

Naruto laughed. "I knew there was a funny side to you somewhere."

Shino nodded, and above them on the tree branch, Sasuke grunted, the only indication that he was paying attention.

The Aburame had been a loner when the class was first formed, and when Naruto noticed this, he was determined to include him in his circle of friends. At first, Shino resisted the Uzumaki's overly exuberant attempts to get to know him, but Naruto could never be denied for long. So instead of spending his free time alone or collecting insects, he now spent them hanging out with the strange collection of trainee-ninja that Naruto had befriended.

Shino's father, Shibi Aburame, had brought up this burgeoning friendship with Naruto only once. Concerns were expressed about the Uzumaki's wild behaviour, but were quickly waved away when Shino began to display a more positive attitude after he spent time with the boy and his friends. This attitude change wasn't very apparent to most, but it was all too visible to the members of his clan. It did not stop a few detractors from decrying the friendship, however.

But, as usual, Naruto cared little whether he was accepted by the families of his friends or not. As long as his friends stuck with him, that was all that mattered. Seeing that the quiet Aburame was enjoying himself in his own way, he looked up. "Oy, Sasuke. Wanna come down from there and join us regular folks?"

In response, Sasuke grunted, which was the norm for him. "I like the view from up here; it gives me a good view of the village. It especially helps that I can look down on you while I'm doing it."

Wiping the dirt from his coat, Kiba smirked. "It seems the high and mighty Uchiha is enjoying looking down on us mere mortals, huh?" He gave Naruto a sly look. "Do you think we should do something about that?"

Naruto grinned, and the malevolent look in his eye when he turned his gaze on Sasuke caused a bead of sweat to form on the Uchiha's face.

* * *

From their own regular spot in the Academy courtyard, the girls of the third year Academy class watched as Naruto and Kiba forcibly dragged Sasuke out his treetop perch, and rolled him into the dirt. A few of the girls were fuming at seeing their idol being treated so roughly, but others noticed that the Uchiha was genuinely enjoying fighting both boys at once.

As the fight became a three-way brawl in the dirt, the girls lost interest and resumed their own conversations. Even if most of them did fancy the Uchiha, none of them were interested in seeing the boys beat the stuffing out of each other.

Sitting together on a grassy knoll, Sakura and Ino were happily chatting to one another over whatever topic they could think of. Both girls had been feuding over Sasuke's affections for quite some time now, but after spending a year intentionally avoiding each other, they both came to the conclusion that they were happier together than apart. They were still 'rivals in love' of course, but that didn't stop them from remaining friends.

During their conversation, Ino was busy trying to fix her ponytail, which had somehow become crooked. "So, have you heard we're having a replacement teacher for the kunoichi only class tomorrow?"

Seeing that her friend was having a hard time of it, Sakura moved over to sit behind Ino, and set about fixing her hair. "No I hadn't. How did you hear about that?"

Although she couldn't see it, Sakura knew Ino was smirking. "Oh come on forehead, you know I have my sources."

Sakura sighed. "Do you want me to fix your hair or not?"

Realising that her hair was being put to ransom, Ino huffed. "Oh fine. One of the girls in Instructor Mizuki's class heard him talk about it."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Your 'sources' are the girls from one year below us?"

"And the year above," said Ino.

The pink haired girl shook her head in amusement. "Oh? So who do you know from the year above? Is it that Tenten girl? They say she's the best kunoichi in the group set to graduate." As she was saying this, Sakura finished straightening Ino's ponytail. "There, done."

With her head free, Ino turned to face Sakura again. "Thanks. Anyway, the answer is no, it's not Tenten. She's a bit of a social outcast, actually, because of her friendship with that crazy guy with the bowl cut."

But before Ino could reveal her source, another person stepped up to talk to them. Upon seeing her, both girls offered her a smile. "Hey Hinata," said Ino.

The heiress of the Hyūga clan gave a polite bow in greeting before smiling herself. "Hello Ino, Sakura. How are you today?"

The other two girls couldn't help but roll their eyes at the heiress's overly polite greeting. Since birth, Hinata Hyūga had been raised to exemplify the dignity of the Hyūga clan, one of the more aristocratic clans in the village. This formal training, along with a natural shyness, has caused her interactions with her classmates to become a bit stiff at times. Thankfully, the girl warmed up quickly, and the formality would always bleed out of the conversation not long after it begins.

It was Sakura who answered her. "We're fine, thanks Hinata. There's no need to stand up on ceremony, sit down with us."

The shy smile on Hinata's face grew just a little bit wider, and she knelt down next to her two friends in a seiza position. "Thank you. I heard you were talking about the 'boy with the bowl cut'. My cousin knows him, after a fashion, but he doesn't have very nice things to say about him."

"Your cousin is going to be the rookie of the year, right? From what I hear, he doesn't have nice things to say about anybody," said Ino.

Hinata managed to restrain a grimace. "It is impolite to speak ill of one's family, but I won't disagree with you either."

Not wanting to steer the conversation towards Hinata's stuffy family, Sakura brought up the topic that always broke Hinata out of her formal shell. "So, have you been practicing your surveillance skills on Naruto recently?"

It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when they did, Hinata's cheeks became dusted with a pink blush, and her pale lilac eyes darted from side to side. "I-I have no idea what you mean. I certainly do not have one my classmates under s-surveillance. The very idea is j-just stupid."

When she was a little girl, Hinata developed a slight stutter. Her father, Hiashi Hyūga, not willing to have a stuttering daughter represent their family, paid an exorbitant amount of money for a speech therapist to correct the issue. The therapist was very good at his job, and now the only time her stutter returned was when her crush on Naruto Uzumaki was spoken about in front of her.

Ino and Sakura couldn't help but be amused at their friend's antics. Her little crush on Naruto was so cute. It was also a bit of a relief, while the two girls were friends; their rivalry over Sasuke's affections occasionally overshadowed it. It was nice to have a friend who wasn't interested in their crush.

Hinata was no fool; she knew the girls brought up Naruto in order to shake her up. It was a little irritating, actually, she had spent years training in decorum and courtly manners, but the mere mention of her blond haired crush caused it all to fall away. Thankfully, Hinata had her own weapon in the war on teasing. Her smile turned sly as she pulled out her lunchbox.

The other two girls laid their eyes on Hinata's lunch. Being a high ranking member of a noble clan had its benefits, one of which was some rather extravagant lunches. With the grace of someone who had been forced to practice courtly manners her entire life, Hinata opened her lunch to reveal some of the finest cuisine Ino and Sakura had ever seen outside of a restaurant. Hinata fished out some chopsticks from her jacket and began to eat, and the other two girls were certain that the noble girl was over-exaggerating her sounds of culinary pleasure.

Ino and Sakura had been restricting their food intake to a specific calorie regime, just enough food to build muscle, but not enough that it would ruin their trim figures. But seeing their friend dine on expensive food tempted them in a way they couldn't easily ignore.

"Hey Hinata, would you like to swap and share lunches with us?" Said Sakura, a wheedling tone in her voice.

Hinata pretended not to notice for a moment, opting to eat another mouthful of her lunch instead. When she finished eating, she responded. "Oh, I'm sorry Sakura. While I was taught it was good manners to share, I'm still in such a tizzy over N-Naruto's name being brought up. I think I'll need to eat all my lunch in order to feel calm again."

Sakura pouted and Ino couldn't help but giggle. "Oh Hinata, you can keep your lunch. Just give me the name of your chef, I'm sure I can get daddy to arrange something for myself."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible Ino," said Hinata.

Ino cocked her head to one side. "Why's that?"

An uncharacteristic smugness flashed across Hinata's face, before it was wiped away by her regular polite expression. "A woman of the Hyūga clan must be self-sufficient. I have made my own lunches since I was ten."

It was something the noble girl was quite proud of. While she was lacking compared to her cousin in their family's martial art, even her father had to admit that her skills in more diplomatic endeavours were worth merit. There was more to being clan head than martial skill, after all.

Surprise coloured Sakura's expression, before she giggled. "Oh wow. If you ever decide that the life of a ninja isn't for you, you could open your own restaurant, people would que around the block."

Ino smirked. "If home economics was worth points, I think she could unseat you as the top scoring student, forehead."

Still amused by Hinata's revelation, she waved off Ino's jibe good naturedly. "Oh put a sock in it."

* * *

After lunch, the day went on with afternoon lectures and study. It had been a pretty average day, but Iruka would be glad to see it end. Indeed, he would be home already, drinking tea and marking test papers were it not for the troublemakers sat in front of him. Naruto, Kiba and Sasuke sat in the front row, all three of them showing signs of wear and tear from their fight earlier.

Iruka ran a hand over his face. "What is it with you three? It's every week with you lot. We have taijutsu practice for this sort of nonsense."

The three looked at each other, before looking back at their teacher. "There was no taijutsu practice today, Instructor," said Sasuke.

The anger in Iruka's eyes told Sasuke that he really should have kept his mouth shut. "You think I don't know that, Mr Uchiha? Of course I do! I wrote the timetable you study by. As a matter of fact, we have taijutsu practice tomorrow, where you three could have sought permission from me in order to beat each other into the ground. But you couldn't wait a single day!"

The teacher took a steadying breath. "I would like to keep you here for a few hours and hash this entire mess out, but I have an appointment straight after this. Therefore, by the end of the week I want to see a two page essay on the usefulness of patience in a shinobi."

Naruto and Kiba groaned, while Sasuke merely glowered. "No arguments!" said Iruka, "I don't want to hear it."

Iruka would have continued, but there was a knock on the classroom door. The teacher gave his students a final glance. "That will be my next appointment. If you want, you can work on the essays together, as long as I get individual pieces from each of you by the end. Dismissed."

The boys acknowledged their teacher's small mercy with a bow before rushing out of the door, Naruto lingered for a second longer to get a good look at Iruka's 'next appointment' and was surprised by what he saw. It was a kunoichi wearing a mesh bodysuit and a tan overcoat, she had purple hair and the amusement in her expression betrayed the fact that she had been listening in on the Uzumaki's dressing down.

Although his danger sense was going off, Naruto couldn't help but blurt out his question. "Are you Iruka's girlfriend?"

The amusement never left the kunoichi's face, but now it was tempered by something darker. "Excuse me? You wanna repeat that, brat?"

Thankfully, before anything regrettable could be done, Iruka intervened. "Naruto! I said you were dismissed. To answer your question, Ms Mitarashi is here because of shinobi business. Now get out of here, if you want additional lessons we can have some tomorrow."

Taking the out his teacher had offered him, Naruto nodded hurriedly before rushing off. Whoever that lady was, she had problems.

Now that Naruto was gone, Iruka gestured towards the classroom. "Sorry about that Ms Mitarashi, Naruto can forget his manners sometimes."

Seeing that the little annoyance had scampered off like a good little boy, Anko Mitarashi smirked. "Please, call me Anko, nobody calls me Ms Mitarashi." She stepped inside the classroom, and then proceeded to walk straight past Iruka and lean against his desk. "So, I was told that there was a gig in the Academy tomorrow, for teacher's pay, no less. What's the job?"

It was a little known fact in Konoha that Academy and Jōnin instructors were well paid for their time and efforts. A ninja's wage traditionally came from missions, and an instructor could not afford to leave the village to perform these missions while busy teaching students. The solution was simple; pay the instructors a steady wage with a high salary. After all, one of the tenants that Konoha was built on was the passing of will down to the next generation. And while people like Iruka taught because they enjoyed it, others needed an incentive.

Iruka rubbed his hands together. "Due to a family matter, the Instructor for the kunoichi only class cannot take her class tomorrow, we need someone to fill in quickly, and your name was recommended."

Anko raised an eyebrow. "I was recommended? It sounds more like I was the only one available."

The Academy teacher scratched his head in embarrassment. "That was also a factor, yes." He then spoke quickly. "Not that that was an issue, or anything. I didn't even know you were qualified until a fellow Instructor brought it up. I've heard about your… interesting reputation, but I have learnt from experience not to put much stock in that sort of thing."

After hearing the teacher's rapid explanation, Anko nodded, giving him the benefit of the doubt. "Okay then, I'll accept that. So, one kunoichi class in infiltration, huh? Sure, I can manage that. What have they learnt so far?"

Iruka returned to his desk, pulling a notebook from one of its many drawers. He flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for. "According to the notes left by Instructor Suzume, the class had been practicing manners in a noble's court. I believe they've been learning how to use traditional musical instruments, but we often throw in a different topic from the norm in order to keep the students on their toes."

Anko put a hand to her chin in thought. "Alrighty then, as long as it's around the subject of infiltrating a noble's court, the topic is fair game, right?"

"And nothing sexual," said Iruka, "the oldest girl in this class would be twelve, far too young to learn anything like that."

The kunoichi waved off his concerns. "Obviously, I know the rules. Sexual training is for volunteers after they reach the legal adult age, yadda yadda. I wouldn't teach them that stuff anyway."

Iruka nodded. "I thought so; I just wanted to clarify the point."

She shrugged. "Fair enough, I get it. You don't want me teaching them anything they shouldn't be learning."

"Exactly," said Iruka, "so with that cleared up, what will you be teaching the students tomorrow?"

With that, Anko offered Iruka sly smile, followed by a wink. "That's a secret, Mr Academy Man. Rest easy knowing the great Anko has it all covered."

As she walked out of the classroom, Iruka called after her. "My name is Iruka, Iruka Umino, if you must know."

She raised her hand in acknowledgment, but said nothing else as she walked away. A smile was on Anko's face as she considered the possibilities. She had never given being a teacher much thought before; her shady reputation had put a dampener on the prospect. But who knows? Perhaps she would enjoy it, and maybe she would ask Mr Academy Man how he got such an interesting scar.

* * *

The next day had come, and Iruka was fretting. He had sworn to never again judge someone by their reputation after years of teaching Naruto. However, after several of his colleagues had got wind of him hiring Anko for the day, he was besieged by protests of concern.

Sure, she had been trained by Orochimaru, and yes, Orochimaru was a traitor to the village and an overall horrible person. But while her teacher was morally reprehensible, he had no reason to believe Anko was anything like him. Indeed, she seemed genuinely eager to teach the class.

No, the reason he was fretting was because she _hadn't shown up yet_. The class was due in about an hour, and while he could just include the girls into the boy's review class, it cast the Academy in a bad light. Teaching the next generation was an important factor of Konoha's success, being unable to provide a replacement teacher at short notice would be shameful.

Currently, it was lunchtime, and Iruka was having lunch with Mizuki in the classroom. Mizuki had allowed this brief alone time to relax, sitting down on a student's desk as he munched on a sandwich; Iruka was standing, looking out of the window and keeping an eye on his students as they relaxed in the courtyard. Thankfully, it seemed that the boys had blown off some steam in the morning taijutsu class, and were resting under their usual spot. Sasuke wasn't with them today, but he sometimes chose to have lunch alone, and after talking to the boy Iruka had learned not to be too worried about it.

Watching his friend nervously chew on his instant ramen, Mizuki spoke up. "Hey, I'm sorry Anko doesn't seem to be working out. If I knew she would be a no-show I wouldn't have suggested her."

Iruka waved Mizuki's words away, a stray noodle falling of his chopsticks as he did so. "It's not your fault Mizuki; you were only trying to help. Besides she might still get here before the lesson begins."

Since Iruka's head was turned, he couldn't see Mizuki's smirking face. Mizuki suspected something like this would happen if Anko was involved, and such a blunder would make Iruka look foolish in the eyes of their colleagues. For years Mizuki had been performing these bad-natured pranks on his friend, but he always reasoned with himself that he was only doing them to toughen Iruka up. The fact he got pleasure from watching his friend squirm was inconsequential. It wasn't anything malicious; it was just a bit of fun. Iruka would thank him in the end. That was how Mizuki rationalised it anyway.

Unaware of his friend's sinister musings, Iruka turned away from the window and strolled back to his desk, throwing his empty ramen cup in the bin on the way. He sighed. "Oh who am I kidding? I don't think she's coming Mizuki."

Mizuki looked apologetic. "I'm sorry about this Iruka. Do you want any help reorganising your lesson plan for today?"

But before Iruka could reply, the doors to the classroom were pulled open, and both men were shocked by what they saw.

Standing in the doorway was Anko, but not as the two teachers knew her. She had traded her mesh bodysuit and overcoat for a tan kimono with purple highlights. Her spiky ponytail had been redone to look a bit less wild than usual, and was being held in place with an ornamental hairpin that was decorated with flowers. She had even added a light touch of makeup.

She looked at the two stunned Academy teachers in amusement, before speaking. "What? If I'm going to be teaching a lesson on kunoichi infiltration in a noble's court, I might as well look the part." She clapped her hands. "Now, hurry up and help me with this equipment. I could carry it all, but it would mess up the kimono, and I have to return it to the store by seven."

The two men tilted their heads to look behind her, and saw a dozen or so sealing scrolls in a box near Anko's feet. Next to them was a sweating Instructor Daikoku, who had obviously been carrying the box for a while now judging by the strain being shown on his face.

As Daikoku seemed to be struggling, Iruka immediately rushed over and took the box out of his hands. After thanking him, Daikoku rushed off, not wanting to hang around. The box was surprisingly heavy, but the Academy teacher was not a Chūnin for nothing, and carried it with little trouble, placing it gently on his desk. He turned to look at Anko, not quite restraining the urge to stare at her new attire. "What are in these scrolls, Ms Mitarashi?"

The kunoichi rolled her eyes. "I told you before, Academy Man, my name is Anko." She stepped into the room, brushed past Iruka and pulled out one of the scrolls. "As for these…" She placed the scroll onto one of the Academy desks and unrolled it. She placed her hands onto the sealing matrix within, and after a quick application of chakra and a light puff of smoke, Iruka was treated to the sight of a traditional tea set.

Anko turned to face him. "I have a few sets and other equipment in each scroll; there should be enough for at least at least one for each pair."

Iruka looked at the tea set, and then back to Anko. "Alright, the tea ceremony is a good topic. But I'm surprised you have so many tea sets, is it a hobby of yours?"

She shrugged. "Not what people expect, huh? Yeah, I like performing the tea ceremony. After cracking skulls on a mission, sitting down with some tea and dango is a great way to unwind."

"It's not particularly strange to me," said Iruka, "everyone has their interests. Anyway, I take it you would like help setting up?"

Anko nodded. "Yup, since it took me so long to rent this kimono, I don't have time to set out all this stuff myself." She then gave him and Mizuki a withering stare. "But if either of you two break anything, I'll start cutting things off of you. Some of this stuff is expensive you know."

The two teachers set out to work, and it wasn't long before every desk had a set placed on it. As they were setting up, however, Mizuki was plagued with dark thoughts. It seemed that Anko was less flaky than he imagined. But that was alright, sometimes a joke doesn't go as you expected it to. There would be other times to toughen Iruka up.

* * *

As it was a kunoichi training day, the students did not immediately rush into class when lunch was over. Instead, they waited outside until Iruka called for them. After he did so, the boys went into a spare classroom, while the girls went inside as normal.

They had been informed earlier in the day that Instructor Suzume had taken a leave of absence, but were still surprised at seeing their replacement teacher had gone to the trouble of dressing up for the class.

Most of the class didn't recognise the woman, they not being full ninja yet. However, Ino did a double take when she saw who was standing in front of the class. Wasn't that Anko, the woman that worked with her dad in the interrogation department? What the heck was she doing teaching a class?

However, any other thoughts she or any other girl in class thought were quickly put aside when Anko spoke. "Alright brats, everybody sit down in pairs. We don't have a lot of time. My name is Anko Mitarashi, and I'll be teaching you the basics of the tea ceremony at court."

After the girls did as she ordered, Anko continued. "An hour is nowhere near enough time to cover the tea ceremony. A noble's tea ceremony can be up to four hours long, so we can't really do a full demonstration either. Luckily for you little girls, someone your age wouldn't be expected to perform one. At best you would assist a more experienced kunoichi by acting as their apprentice while _they_ performed the ceremony. So that's what we will be practicing today. Now, who here has performed or attended a formal ceremony before?"

Many of the girls raised their hands.

Anko nodded. "That's about right. Clans such as the Hyūga and Yamanaka probably perform these ceremonies a few times a year. The rest of you have most likely attended a fancy event featuring a tea ceremony at least once in your lives. That's good, as long as you know the barebones requirements we can save some time. Now, I'm going to show you what you're supposed to do as an assistant, and then you're going to copy me, okay? Good, let's get started."

* * *

It was a popular complaint from outside observers that it was unfair that the Academy split the boys and girls up a few times a week to study different things. Many saw the girls practicing flower arranging, while the boys performed kata or reviewed textbooks and complained of inequality.

However, this was a rather ignorant assumption. A ninja village like Konoha, which was dependent on having as many successful missions as possible, had entire departments whose only task was to calculate the success rate of missions. These departments, after much research, unanimously agreed that kunoichi have a much, much easier time at infiltrating civilian locations than their male counterparts.

As such, kunoichi were given much more extensive training than shinobi on the art of infiltration. Shinobi are also given infiltration training, of course, but it was to a lesser degree, and only those who request it, or chose to specialise in it, get more. Instead, prospective shinobi spend the hour away from the girls reviewing what they learnt during the week. Sometimes that would be taijutsu drills, but quite often it was re-reading chapters from the textbook, with the Instructor asking a different range of questions. These were often boring, and while Iruka did his best make it more engaging for his class, he tended to deliver mixed results on that score.

As such, while the girls were having one of the most interesting infiltration classes they'd had all year (in part due to the novelty of having a different teacher), the boys were busy reviewing the histories of the Second Great Ninja War.

Unlike years prior, Naruto paid close attention to Iruka's lecture. While he still didn't find the subject very interesting, the Uzumaki had to admit that actually taking notes on what his teacher was saying every now and again led to much better grades.

And upon noticing that Shikamaru had fallen asleep, and Kiba was doodling on his notebook, Naruto couldn't help but smirk. The notes could also be a very effective bribe before test day. Still, he could also understand why they weren't paying attention; they _had_ covered this stuff before. Thankfully, however, Iruka's lecture was beginning to wind down, and there were more than a few boys who let out a sigh of relief. The Second ninja war was definitely interesting at times, but it seemed that the Second Hokage was doomed to make any subject he was even mentioned in boring, despite Iruka's best efforts.

"… And after the stalemate in the Country of Rain was broken by the withdrawal of Hanzō the Salamander, many nations involved in the war began entering peace talks. These talks would eventually lead to an armistice, which would later be replaced by the Second Treaty of Peace. Unfortunately, this treaty would not last. We shall discuss the reasons why the second treaty failed on Friday, and I hope you will have all at least skimmed the relevant pages on it beforehand. Now take five everyone, I'll be back to inform you when it is time to re-enter the main classroom."

Now that Iruka was finished and leaving the room, Naruto dropped his pen and leaned back in his seat lacing his fingers behind his head as he did so. "Well, that wasn't so bad."

Yawning, Shikamaru raised his head from the desk to look in Naruto's direction. "That's because he was talking about the later part of the war. Where all mentions of the Second Hokage stop appearing. For some reason no one can understand, history got more interesting when the Third Hokage takes over."

Kiba shrugged. "Eh, I don't care. What's the point in learning this stuff anyway? It's not like it'll be useful when we're ninja."

Naruto frowned. "Well… I'm not so sure about that anymore."

"Oh? Want to expand on that?" said Shikamaru.

"Uh… sure. You know Iruka always says that we should learn about history, or we're doomed to repeat it?"

Kiba raised an eyebrow in interest. "Yeah, so?"

The Uzumaki scratched his chin. "Well, what if you're on a mission and something similar to what happened in a historical event was happening to you? If you paid attention in history class, you would know how a ninja from the past dealt with it, and how well it worked out. If what they did worked, you could just repeat what that guy did. If it didn't, you know what _not_ to do."

Kiba drummed his fingers on the desk, processing what his friend had said. "Alright, I think I get it. But, that isn't exactly going to happen often on a mission is it? Most of the problems I'll ever get on a mission will be either entirely new, not covered in Iruka's history book, or something that could be solved by me kicking its ass." On his head, Akamaru barked in agreement.

From the desk behind theirs, Shino spoke up, startling the three Academy students. "You both make good points. However, there is something else that Naruto forgot to mention."

Shikamaru was just interested enough in the conversation to be fully awake now. "And that is?"

"Mistakes of the past," said Shino, "the Instructor has time and time again told us to analyse the mistakes of our predecessors. Knowing their mistakes ensures that we will not repeat them. Every lesson from history we learn ensures that that mistake does not happen again."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that's right! Shino said it better than me. Our ancestors are cool and all, but they made mistakes too. If we can keep the good stuff, while fixing the bad stuff, we'll be even better than they were."

Kiba raised his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. You got me, history is useful."

With that resolved, Shikamaru turned to talk to Chōji, who was sitting next to Shino. The Akimichi had been too busy to take part in the conversation as he spent most of his time warding Shino's insects away from his bag of snacks.

"You okay back there?"

Nudging away another insect with his lunchtime chopsticks, Chōji nodded. "Yeah, I will be. I just wish these guys would stop coming after my food!"

As soon as Chōji said this, the insects immediately retreated back into the sleeves of Shino's jacket. The Akimichi glared. "You could have done that this entire time, couldn't you?"

Shino was quiet for a long moment, before replying. "Yes, but it was just too amusing to stop."

Naruto and Kiba roared with laughter, and even Shikamaru couldn't stop a snort of amusement at his best friend's predicament. Naruto was right after all, Shino really did have a sense of humour.

* * *

Iruka opened the door to find Anko finishing her lesson, a kunai in her hand. "…and that, girls, is the best way to hide a kunai in your kimono."

It wasn't exactly what Iruka was expecting to hear when he walked in, but seeing that most of the girls looked enthusiastic he let it slide. "I take it today's lesson was a success?" He said drily.

Hearing his words, Anko preened herself. "Well, after giving a brief demonstration and some good advice on what someone their age would do in a tea ceremony, we had a bit of time left. So I gave them some sealing practice by letting them seal my stuff back into the scrolls. Then, because you still hadn't shown up yet, I showed them how to conceal a weapon in a formal dress."

Iruka nodded. "Thank you. We've covered concealing weapons before, but we've never had the opportunity to show how it's done in formal clothing."

A smile that was almost smug had settled on the kunoichi's face. "Well now you have. Anyway, since you're back here now, I assume that our lesson time is up?"

After another nod from Iruka, Anko turned to face the Academy students. "Okay girls, it's been fun, but it's time to resume your regular programming."

Quite a few of the kunoichi in training groaned in disappointment, Ino and Ami being some of the loudest. Iruka noted the amount of disappointed faces with interest.

Anko raised her hands for calm, the kunai slipping back into her sleeve as she did so. "Hey, hey. No need to complain kids, we had fun. Now enjoy the rest of the day with your Instructor." And with that, she gathered up her scrolls, and walked out of the door, presumably to rope one of the other Academy teachers into helping her carry them.

With Anko gone, the boys re-joined the classroom, and the day resumed as normal.

* * *

When the Academy ended its day, so did many other professions in the village. The streets were crowded with people on their way home from work, and parents who had come to escort their children back home.

Through these busy streets, Naruto walked alone. Most of his friends were picked up by their parents today, so there was no one to go home with. Sasuke tended to disappear after the Academy day was over, so he was out. Iruka was also too busy to do any extra lessons, so that was a bust too. Without any other options Naruto made his way to one of his favourite places in the village, the Ichiraku ramen stand.

While there were many people in the village who still gave him the cold shoulder, the father and daughter team who owned the eatery had always welcomed him with a smile and a warm greeting. The owner, Teuchi, had a policy of being friendly any customer, no matter who they were, and his daughter Ayame followed those same principles. Their friendly greetings had endeared them to Naruto, and in turn, the boy's own cheerful enthusiasm had made him a genuine friend of the family.

Although it was a rush hour, Naruto never had to wait long for a seat to be free in the ramen stand. As soon as a stool was available, the boy hopped onto it and made his order with his usual exuberance.

"Hey Ayame, is there a bowl of ramen in that pot for me?"

The young girl behind the stand giggled. "Oh Naruto. Of course there is," but then a mercenary glint shone in her eyes, "as long as you can pay, that is."

In response, Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. "What's with that attitude? You know I can pay."

Behind Ayame, the middle-aged man who was serving another customer a bowl chuckled before he spoke up. "She's just playing with you Naruto. Now, what would you like?"

The response was as immediate as it was expected. "Pork ramen please!"

Teuchi had known Naruto for years, and knew his eating habits. He had already anticipated Naruto's choice of ramen, and so it took the chef only a minute to prepare and place a steaming bowl of the stuff in front of his favourite customer.

Throwing down his Ryo as payment, the young Uzumaki split his chopsticks and dug into the special treat. It wasn't something he had as often as he would have liked. Sadly, his weekly allowance from the Konoha office of Administration was not enough to pay for freshly served ramen every day.

Still, when he could have it, he relished every morsel.

After wolfing down his dinner, Naruto placed the empty ramen bowl back onto the table. He patted his stomach contentedly for a moment, before turning to face Ayame once more.

"So, what's been happening in the village while I was at the Academy today? Anything cool?"

Ayame smiled, but shook her head in the negative. "Nope. You're in luck today Naruto, you haven't missed anything."

However, Teuchi rubbed his chin in thought. "Actually, that might not be true."

Both Naruto and Ayame turned in unison to stare at the master ramen chef. The young Uzumaki voiced the thought they both had. "Huh? So something did happen?"

A grave expression adorned Teuchi's face. "Yeah, something pretty important actually." He leaned down to stare Naruto in the face. "You see… it's for one particular customer, and for one day only." The chef's face lit up. "Since he bought one bowl of ramen, he can have another for sixty percent off!"

Naruto's eyes threatened to spill out of their sockets. "Sixty percent? Oh hell yeah! Another bowl please!"

* * *

However, while Naruto was having a great time at the ramen stand, Kurama continued to plot.

It had been only a few years since the Kyūbi had awoken behind the seal within the boy's soul, but he had not been idle. The mortal boy he was trapped within was much more presentable now, and it was all his doing. Teaching human ethics and etiquette had not been easy, Kurama's understanding of the topic was tenuous, and in the beginning there was much trial and error, but the results were worth it.

Naruto Uzumaki possessed a natural charisma that many would envy, but it had been buried by childish stubbornness and idiocy. It had taken some years, but those defects in the boy's personality had been quelled, or at least redirected. This, along with one-on-one tutelage with Iruka to develop his academic knowledge, allowed the boy to gather people to him like moths to the flame.

After all, Kurama mused, he would need allies if he wished to become a true leader of men. Everything was proceeding according to his schedule.

However, while turning the boy into something worthwhile was Kurama's main plan, this did not stop him from exploring other opportunities. Between monitoring the boy's progress, and interacting with him through his dreams, Kurama had been testing the seal that trapped him. He had discovered very early on that the gate would not yield to simple brute force, nor would it be affected by any spell or divine rite that he knew of. This did not stop him from trying though.

For the past few years, Kurama had probed the seal, and had made a rather startling discovery; the gate bound him on more than one plane of existence. It stretched beyond the confines of the boy's soul, and was connected to every higher dimension Kurama could conceivably have access to. It was, in many ways, a perfect prison. But…

The gate was designed to counter any assault he could muster against it, but thein lay the flaw. The seal must be _aware_ of him. It could not possibly react fast enough to counter each escape attempt otherwise. If it was aware, then it could _listen_.

For the past year, Kurama had been whispering to the seal matrix attached to the gate. The self-aware seal was forced to listen as the Kyūbi whispered dark knowledge to it. He informed the mortal-made gate of terrible secrets that only a god could know, and each time he did so gate _recoiled_. Every time another black secret was confessed, the gate shook a little, as if in silent horror. It was only a small weakness, but it was enough for the god fragment.

As the gate shuddered from hearing another divine truth, Kurama reached out with spiritual claws towards the afterlife, grasping for any resource that he could use to further his plans. Most of the time the gate restored itself fast enough that the god fragment was forced to retreat without finding anything, but not this time. For the first time in many months, Kurama touched something divine that was not his own.

Snatching his claws back before the spiritual rent he had torn in the gate closed off, Kurama examined what he had discovered. He peered down at the glowing object hanging off of a single claw. It was the scraps of a holy robe.

A fanged maw spread outward in pleasure. Finally, he had found another piece to the puzzle.

* * *

However, such manipulation into the spiritual plane had its own breed of consequences.

Hundreds of miles away from the Country of Fire, there resided the Country of Demons. It was a rather poor choice of names for a nation, but the rulers of this land cared little, it was an accurate title.

At the very heart of this nation stood a temple. This holy site was almost palatial in scope, and the nobility of the land paid more attention to the comings and goings of the temple than they did their Daimyo's own court. And in this temple, guarded day and night by ninja, and warded with every holy seal known to man, the high priestess tossed and turned in her bed. Her name was Miroku, and she did not have long to live.

Every high priestess of her line has had the power of foresight, and she was no different. In many ways it was a blessing, her predictions had steered the country she helped lead from disaster several times throughout her tenure as high priestess. However, this supernatural foresight could also be a curse, as the only thing she had dreamt of these last few nights has been her own death.

_The spiritual malaise that had been eating away at her for some time now, the sealing of the demon Mōryō had exacted a cost upon her that even she had not anticipated. Even now as she lie in her bed, her skeletal hand being held tightly by her weeping daughter-_

With an effort of will, the high priestess forced the vision away. She had seen it too many times now, she had no wish to see it again. But the gift of foresight cared little for the desires of its owner, and it would not be long before she was plunged into yet another vision. Desperately Miroku begged the spirits to show her something else, something actually _useful_ if not for herself, then for her daughter, for the nation.

She expected his plea to fail, just like it had so many times before, but tonight would be different. Tonight, the veil was torn by an overeager being of great power, and a new future was glimpsed for the first time.

_A man walked on broken ground. He was tall and strong, with piercing blue eyes and a head of bright blonde hair. He wore the robes of a noble but underneath them was the armour of a warrior. The chakra radiating from his body revealed his status as a shinobi, and the sheer volume of it seemed to envelop him, making his whole body glow with ethereal light. This was a man who was used to power and authority._

_But the world around him did not fit his own image. No matter where he turned his eyes, all he could see was devastation. Ninja of all nations and creeds were strewn about the ruined battlefield, many of them dead or dying. Those who were alive and capable of fighting had already rallied behind him. These ninja were also very powerful, but their faces were cast in the shadow of their leader's glow. _

_Just beyond the horizon, an aura of unspeakable darkness twisted into the sky. _

"_Lord Naruto," said one of the ninja "the enemy is too powerful, we must fall back to the city."_

_The newly named Naruto shook his head. "No, this has to be stopped now. Otherwise it will mean the end to everything we believe in." He turned towards the warriors that were closest to him. "I shall go forward, alone. The rest of you retreat to a safe distance and prepare countermeasures for if I fail."_

_There was a collective groan among the ninja. A feminine voice spoke up in protest. "No! If you die here, then everything you have built will die with you. I cannot allow it."_

_Naruto narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze on the woman who protested. The vision turned with him, and Miroku was shocked to discover it was her own daughter. She was a grown woman, wearing a more practical version of her own holy robes, the crown of the high priestess rested on her head, and her face was covered in the intricate war paint of Demon Country's Jōnin._

_Heedless of her shock, Naruto continued to speak. "Shion, you of all people know why I must go alone." The shinobi turned his gaze once again, and Miroku felt a stab of fear when she realised this Naruto was staring straight at her. "After all, wasn't it you who told me that your mother saw this very event?"_

Miroku shot bolt upright in her bed, shock and fear dominating her expression. She must have cried out, as a shinobi of her nation burst into the room, kunai ready to face an intruder.

The shinobi rushed to her bedside and knelt. "My lady, are you safe?"

Miroku stared at him with wide eyes, but the chaotic emotions borne from her vision was slowly fading, and she found that she knew exactly what to say next. "The restriction on my daughter learning the shinobi arts is rescinded. You are to teach her everything you know, and beyond."

If any surprise was felt at this sudden change in commands, the shinobi did not show it. Whatever had caused the high priestess to change her adamant decree that the lady Shion not learn shinobi arts was not for him to comment on. "It is as you command, High Priestess."

The adrenalin from her shock fading, Miroku rubbed her eyes. With a grimace she forced the tiredness away, this new vision must be addressed now while she remembered it all. "Also, send for my daughter, now. I have urgent words for only her ears."

The shinobi bowed his head, and turned to leave, but something caught his eye. "My lady… your arm."

Miroku frowned at her ninja's words, before turning her gaze down to her arms. A sleeve of her robe had been torn away, almost like it had been slashed by a beast.

* * *

**Wow, this chapter took some time to write. Has it really been over year?**

**I don't really have an excuse, I have remarkably less time to write nowadays, and when I do have the time, I usually work on my original stuff instead. Anyways, back to the chapter.**

**This chapter serves to introduce more of the main cast of the story, and Anko, because Anko is a great character that was underused in the canon. I also wanted to explore the 'friendship' between Iruka and Mizuki a little, as it's often forgotten about in most fanfiction. Mizuki will have a slightly larger role in this fic than he did in canon. Like I've said before, every villain will get more time in the spotlight, even Mizuki.**

**I haven't really thought about the relationship side of the story too much. It will certainly be a part of the story, but so many fanfics overly focus on romance in their stories, and I'm trying to avoid that pitfall.**

**The Demon Country section was a last minute inspiration. I had grown restless from writing child Naruto and wanted everyone to catch a brief glimpse of who he may become. **

**I was a bit disappointed I couldn't break a clean one hundred reviews last chapter. I thought people liked claiming milestones like that. Remember people, I reply to every review, so feel free to tell me what you thought of this chapter. Unfortunately, this fanfic is near the bottom of my priority list at the moment, but the more reviews I get, the more inspired I am to write the next chapter, and the sooner it can be released.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next time: Graduation, and it won't be like canon.**


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